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ROF.  W.  W.  MARTIN'S  VIEWS. 


Makes    a    Telling    Address    on    the 
Bible  at  the  Methodist  Ministers' 
Meeting-. 


t  the  meeting  of  the  Brooklyn  and  Long 
nrl    Methodist    Preachers    Association,    a 
king  address  was  made  by  the  Rev.  Dr. 
W.  Martin,  formerly  professor  of  Semitic 
guages     in    Vauderbilt    University.      Dr. 
"tin    is    a    native    of    Brooklyn    and    haa 
nt  much    time   in   the   Oriental   countries 
the  study   of   the   Semitic   languages   auu 
ir  bearing  upon  the  Scriptures  for  exegcii- 
and    practical    purposes.      What   he    nad 
say    -will    attract    attention    throughout 
country.     He  said: 
No  portion   of  the  Old  Testament   scrip- 
es   has  been   so  successfully   analyzed   as 
flood    narrative.     It    is    assigned    to    the 
estly  narrative  and  to  the  Prophetic  nar- 
ive.     It  is  observable  that  neither  of  these 
)    narratives    is    complete.     That    in    the 
imingling  of  them  together  the  compiler 
k  great  liberty  in  rejecting,  now  a  portion 
the   Priestly    narrative,    and   now   a   por- 
Q    of    the    Prop'ietic.     For    instance,    the 
nmand   to  build    the   ark  as   found   in   the 
estly  narrative  is  retained,  but  the  corre- 
mdlng  portion  in  the   Prophetic  narrative 
rejected.     At     times,    however,    the    cor- 
ponding  portions  in  each  narrative  are  re- 
ned,  as  in  the  case  of  the  entrance  into  the 
i. 

'One  feature  is  very  noticeable  in  each 
these  two  narratives  of  higher  criticism, 
iiely,  that  each  narraiive  apparently  re- 
es  as  historical  an  event  which  in  fact 
unbelievable.  This  appears  in  the  matter 
the  number  of  animals  that  enter  the 
t.  And  it  is  further  evident  that  owing 
the  great  elision  oi  these  two  narratives, 
s  to  their  corjamingliiig,  that  one  narraiive 
inot  be  ufeed  to  confirm  the  other,  except 
a  very  limited  degree. 


"Further  it  will  be  found  if  the  princi 
of  redactions  be  applied  to  the  Priestly  n 
Tative  as  it  is  applied  to  the  Prophetic 
the  flood  narrative,  that  the  style  of  i 
Priestly  narrative  is  no  more  redundant  £ 
repetitive  than  the  Prophetic.  These  £ 
other  considerations  make  it  doubt 
whether  the  hypothesis  of  the  higher  crit 
is  tenable." 

.\s  an  alternative  hypothesis  Profes 
Martin  offers  the  theory  of  Reconstruct 
Criticism.  This  theory  is  that  we  have 
the  narrative  of  the  flood,  as  found  in  Ge 
sis,  two  narratives  combined,  a  Jehovis 
narrative,  which  is  the  original,  and 
Elohistic.  which  is  a  version.  The  origi 
narrative  was  written  probably  1400,  B. 
and  the  version  made  a  thousand  years  lal 

Professor  Martin  gave  a  separation  of  th 
narratives   complete   in   a   printed   pamph 
and    these    narratives    were    reasonable 
events,  full  and   entirely  independent.     A 
resuk  of  the  theory  of  Reconstructive  Cr 
cism,   when    its   v/ork   is   fully   done    we   ^ 
have    an    original    of   the    Hexateuch    ma 
ar;d  a  versiojj  which  are  obtainable  from 
Hebrew     text     and     the    septuagint    will 
found  to  contain  a  Greek  version  of  the  oi 
inal.   also   a    Greek   version   of   the   Elohii 
version.     Thus   we   will    have    every   faci 
and  ample  evidence  for  the  integrity  of 
Jehovistic   original. 

The  address  was  received  with  everj^  < 
dence    of    approval.      The    Rev.    Dr.    J. 
Adams,  president,  appointed     the  commi' 
on    nominations    of   officers    for   the    ensi 
year,   as  follows:     The   Revs.   D.   A.   Jorc 
W    A.  Layton,  H.  P.    Scarborough,    and 
the  plan  of   preaching  appointments  for 
home  for  the  aged,  the  Revs.  E.  H.  Dutcl 
John  Rippere  and  H,   A.   Trinkaus. 


THE 

LAW  AND  COVENANT. 


BEING 

The  Restoration  of  Two  of  the  Books  of  Moses,  Each 

IN  Two  Versions,  and  Designated  Herein  as 

the  Sinaitic  Tora  and  the  Book  of 

the  Covenant: 

According  to  Reconstructive  Criticism. 


BY  j^/ 

WILLIAM   WALLACE   MARTIN, 

Formerly  Professor  of  Hebrew ^ 
Vanderbilt  University, 


NEW    YORK:     EATON    &    MAINS. 
CINCINNATI:    JENNINGS    &    PYE. 


copyright  by 

William  Wallack  Martin, 

*oo». 


TO 

REV.  E.  E.  HOSS,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Editor  of  the  "  Christian  Advocate," 
Nashville,  Tenn., 

Wholly  a  Southern  Methodist,  yet  Ever 

Nobly  Fraternal: 

Out  of  Personal  Regard  I  Inscribe  This  Book. 

(iii) 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

Pagb 

Preface , vii 

Analysis  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora xi 

Analysis  of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant xiii 


PART  I.— THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 
Chapter 

I.  MosAiSM  AND  Criticism i 

II.  Hilkiah's  Book  of  the  Law ii 

III.  Historical  Introduction  to  the  Tora 20 

IV.  The  Commandments  of  Jehovah 32 

V.  Monotheism  and  National  Existence 41 

VI.  Statutes  Respecting  the  Sacred  Seasons 53 

VII.  Statutes  Respecting  the  Sanctuary 67 

VIII.  The  Judgments  of  the  Law 81 

IX.  Obedience  and  Blessing 88 

X.  Disobedience  and  Punishment 94 

XI.  Comparative  View  of  the  Two  Versions 109 


PART  II.— THE  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

XII.  Sin  and  Forgiveness 133 

XIII.  Critical  Documents , 140 

XIV.  Historical  Introduction 147 

XV.  The  Tables  of  Testimony 153 

XVI.  Statutes  Respecting  the  Altar  and  the  Offering.  161 

XVII.  Statutes  Respecting  the  Sacred  Seasons 171 

XVIII.  Obedience  and  Blessing iSo 

XIX.  Disobedience  and  Punishment 184 

XX.  Versions  Compared 193 

XXI.  The  Legislation  of  Moses 205 


PREFACE. 

In  this  volume,  entitled  **The  Law  and  the  Cove- 
nant," I  have  gathered  together  the  civil,  ethical,  and 
religious  precepts  of  Exodus-Deuteronomy  which  re- 
mained after  removing  the  two  versions  of  the  Tora  of 
Moses.  The  material  which  I  have  used  in  my  two 
books,  named  respectively  "The  Tora  of  Moses"  and 
*'  The  Law  and  the  Covenant,"  is  the  same  which  higher 
criticism  relegates  to  its  documents,  known  as  the  Book 
of  the  Covenant,  the  Words  of  the  Covenant,  the  Book  of 
Judgments,  which  are  found  in  Exodus ;  and  the  Laws  of 
Holiness,  which  are  found  in  Leviticus;  and  the  Deu- 
teronomic  Code,  which  is  found  in  Deuteronomy.  I 
leave  it  with  every  fair-minded  reader  to  decide  whether 
the  three  great  Mosaic  documents,  which  I  have  restored 
and  named  the  Tora  of  Moses,  the  Sinaitic  Law,  and 
the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  giving  each  in  two  versions, 
are  not  rather  to  be  accepted  than  the  three  documents 
supposed  to  be  discovered  by  the  higher  critics  and 
called  by  them  the  Prophetic  Code,  the  Laws  of  Holi- 
ness, and  the  Deuteronomic  Code.  The  documents  of 
reconstructive  criticism  are  logical  in  arrangement, 
consistent  as  literary  productions,  and  related  to  each 
other  as  an  earlier  to  later  codes,  while  the  docu- 
ments of  higher  criticism  are  without  any  logical  or- 
der, inconsistent  with  each  other,  and  as  literary  pro- 
ductions must  surely  be  classed  as  puerile  productions 
because  of  the  repetitions,  inconsistencies,  and  incon- 
gruous arrangements  of  their  parts. 

(vK) 


viii  PREFACE. 

If  critical  scholarship  accepts  the  codes  of  higher 
criticism,  and  interprets  the  history  of  Israel  in  ac- 
cordance with  them,  there  can  be  but  one  result,  name- 
ly, the  conclusions  substantially  of  the  Grafian  school; 
and  these  subvert  the  traditional  view  of  the  develop- 
ment of  this  chosen  people.  On  the  other  hand,  if 
critical  scholarship  shall  receive  the  codes  of  recon- 
structive criticism,  there  can  be  no  other  view  of  the 
history  of  Israel  than  that  which  has  come  down  to  us 
through  the  centuries.  The  method  of  reconstructive 
criticism  is  as  scientific  as  that  of  the  higher  criticism. 
Indeed,  no  liberty  has  been  taken  by  me  which  I  can- 
not parallel  again  and  again  in  the  investigations  of 
higher  criticism.  I  simply  extend  the  fact  of  confusion 
in  the  records  of  the  Pentateuch  vastly  beyond  that 
recognized  by  them,  and  I  take  a  larger  liberty  in  trans- 
position. 

Only  those  scholars  who  have  carefully  undertaken 
critical  work  in  the  Pentateuch  will  recognize  the  al- 
most insuperable  difficulties  which  beset  my  investiga- 
tions at  every  step.  At  any  moment  I  was  liable  to 
meet  with  difficulty  which  would  make  impossible 
my  theory,  that  the  ancient  codes  of  Israel  were  con- 
fused together  in  the  Pentateuch,  and  so  make  nugato- 
ry the  labor  of  years.  It  was  not  merely  to  construct 
three  codes  which  would  be  consistent  codes  out  of 
the  precepts  of  Exodus-Deuternomy,  but  each  code 
must  be  found  in  two  versions.  Several  repetitive  sen- 
tences I  have  taken  from  the  Tora  of  Moses  in  order 
to  complete  parts  lacking  in  the  other  two  codes.  Such 
errors  were  unavoidable.  These  sentences,  however, 
are  not  very  many  in  number.  Also  my  acquiescence  in 
the  arguments  of  the  higher  critics  respecting  the  feasts, 


PREFACE.  IX 

especially  the  Atonement  Day,  led  me  to  error  at  this 
point  in  the  Tora  of  Moses.  Otherwise  I  find  nothing 
to  retract  in  my  former  volume,  except  to  change  the 
length  of  the  stay  at  Sinai  and  to  exchange  for  linguis- 
tic reasons  some  sentences  in  the  J  version  for  corre- 
sponding sentences  in  the  E  version.  Yet  such  cases 
are  comparatively  few.  I  have  sought  simply  to  reach 
the  truth  through  the  theory  of  reconstructive  crit- 
icism, hoping  to  be  helpful  in  undermining  the  perilous 
conclusions  of  the  higher  criticism.  W.  W.  M. 

Brentwood,  Tenn.,  September  23,  1901. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

(Figures  refer  to  pages.) 


I. HISTORICAL   INTRO- 
DUCTION. 

a.  Prefatory  Statement.. .  109 

According  to  J,  21. 
According  to  E,  21. 

b»  The  Chosen  People .. .  109 

According  to  J,  22. 
According  to  E,  24. 

c.  Deeds  of  Jehovah no 

According  to  J,  25. 
According  to  E,  26. 

d.  Land  of  Promise in 

According  to  J,  29. 
According  to  E,  30. 

//.  THE   COMMANDMENTS 
OF  THE  LA  W, 

a.  Transitional  Paragraph,  112 

According  to  J,  33. 
According  to  E,  33. 

h.  First  Table  of  the  Law,ii2 

According  to  J,  34. 
According  to  E,  36. 

c,  SecondTableof  theLaw,ii3 

According  to  J,  37. 
According  to  E,  38. 

d.  Exhortation 113 

According  to  J,  39. 
According  to  E,  39. 


///.  MONOTHEISM  AND 
NATIONAL  EXISTENCE, 

a.  Fidelity  to  Jehovah. . .  114 

According  to  J,  44. 
According  to  E,  45. 

b.  Guest-right  Law 115 

According  to  J,  47. 
According  to  E,  47. 

c.  Concerning  Idolatry.. .  115 

According  to  J,  49. 
According  to  E,  49. 

d.  Concerning  Apostasy.. 116 

According  to  J,  50. 
According  to  E,  51. 

IV.  STATUTES     RESPECT- 
ING SACRED  SEASONS, 

a.  The  Sabbath 116 

According  to  J,  55. 
According  to  E,  55. 

h.  The  Sabbatic  Year 117 

According  to  J,  56. 
According  to  E,  57. 

c.  Year  of  Jubilee 117 

According  to  J,  58. 
According  to  E,  58. 

d.  The  Passover 118 

According  to  J,  60. 
According  to  E,  61. 
(xi) 


xu 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 


e.  Three  Annual  Feasts..  119 

According  to  J,  64. 
According  to  E,  66. 

f.  Day  of  Atonement..  . .  120 

According  to  J,  66. 
According  to  E,  66. 

V.  STATUTES  RESPECT- 
ING THE  SANCTUART. 

a.  The  Priest 120 

According  to  J,  69. 
According  to  E,  70. 

b.  The  Levites 120 

According  to  J,  72. 
According  to  E,  73. 

c.  The  Place  of  Worship. .  1 20 

According  to  J,  76. 
According  to  E,  76. 

d.  Unclean  Animals 121 

According  to  J,  78. 
According  to  E,  79. 

VI.  THE    JUDGMENTS    OF 

THE  LA  W. 

a.  Concerning  Crimes  ...122 

According  to  J,  83. 
According  to  E,  84. 

b.  Concerning  Injuries. ..  123 

According  to  J   85. 
According  to  E,  85. 

c.  Truth  and  Judgment. .  123 

According  to  J,  86. 
According  to  E,  86. 


VII.  OBEDIENCE    AND 

BLESSING. 

a.  Obedience  and  Life.  ...124 

Acccording  to  J,  89. 
According  to  E,  89. 

b.  Obedience  and  Blessing,  124 

According  to  J,  91. 
According  to  E,  92. 

VIII.  DISOBEDIENCE  AND 

PUNISHMENT. 

a.  Pride  of  Heart 125 

According  to  J,  98. 
According  to  E,  98. 

b.  First  Triad  of  Punish- 

ments  126 

According  to  J,  100. 
According  to  E,  loi. 

c.  Second   Triad  of  Pun- 

ishments  126 

According  to  J,  loi. 
According  to  E,  102. 

d.  Seventh  Punishment. .  127 

According  to  J,  103. 
According  to  E,  104. 

e.  Repentance  and  Mercy,  1 28 

According  to  J,  105. 
According  to  E,  106. 

f.  Closing  Exhortation...  128 

According  to  J,  106. 
According  to  E,  107. 


ANALYSIS  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 


(Figures  refer  to  pages.) 


/.  HISTORICAL  INTRO- 
DUCTION. 

a.  Purpose  of   Signs  and 

Wonders 148 

According  to  J,  148. 
According  to  E,  149. 

b.  Faith  in  the  Promise.. .  150 

According  to  J,  150. 
According  to  E,  151. 

//.  THE  TABLES  OFTESTI- 
MONT. 

a.  Introductory  Sentence,  154 

According  to  J,  154. 
According  to  E,  154. 

b.  First  Table  of  the  Cov- 

enant   155 

According  to  J,  155. 
According  to  E,  156. 

c.  Second    Table    of    the 

Covenant 157 

According  to  J,  157. 
According  to  E,  158. 

d.  Hortatory  Words 159 

According  to  J,  159. 
According  to  E,  159. 


///.  STATUTES    RESPECT- 
ING THE  ALTAR  AND 
THE  OFFERING. 

a.  Law  of  the  Altar 162 

According  to  J,  162. 
According  to  E,  163. 

b.  Law  of  the  Offering  . .  165 

According  to  J,  165. 
According  to  E,  166. 

c.  Law  of  the  Victim. . .  .166 

According  to  J,  166. 
According  to  E,  167. 

d.  Law  of  Game-eating.  .  167 

According  to  J,  167. 
According  to  E,  167. 

e.  Law  of  Defilement..  . .  168 

According  to  J,  168. 
According  to  E,  169. 

IV.  STATUTES     RESPECT- 
ING THE  SACRED  SEA- 
SONS. 

a.  The  Sabbath 173 

According  to  J,  173. 
According  to  E,  174. 

b.  The  Passover 175 

According  to  J,  175. 
According  to  E,  177. 

c.  The     Day    of    Atone- 

ment  179 

According  to  J,  179. 
According  to  E,  179. 
(xiii) 


XIV    ANALYSIS  OF  THE  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

b. 


V.  OBEDIENCE    AND 
BLESSING, 

a.  Obedience i8o 

According  to  J,  i8o. 
According  to  E,  180. 

b.  Blessings 181 

According  to  J,  181. 
According  to  E,  182. 

VI.    DISOBEDIENCE  AND 
PUNISHMENT. 

a.  Transitional  Para- 
graph   184 

According  to  J,  184. 
According  to  E,  185. 


c. 


d. 


e. 


First  Triad  of  Punish- 

ments 185 

According  to  J,  185. 
According  to  E,  186. 

Second  Triad  of  Pun- 
ishments   186 

According  to  J,  186. 
According  to  E,  187. 

Seventh  Punishment.  .  188 

According  to  J,  188. 
According  to  E,  188. 

Repentance  and  Mercy  .189 

According  to  J,  189. 
According  to  E,  190. 


Part  I. 
THE  SINAITIG  TORA. 


(XV) 


EXPLANATORY  STATEMENTS. 

1.  References   are  to  the  English  version  of  King 
James. 

2.  The  upper  figures  refer  to  chapters;  the  lower  to 
verses. 

3.  The  letters  E,  L,  N,  refer  respectively  to  Exodus, 
Leviticus,  and  Numbers. 

4.  Where  there  is  no  letter,  Deuteronomy  is  under- 
stood. 

5.  A  reference  like  1?  means  Deuteronomy  vi.  17;  but 
L  u,25  means  Leviticus  vi.  14,  25. 

(xvi) 


THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

CHAPTER  I. 

MOSAISM  AND  CRITICISM. 

Israel  under  the  leadership  of  Moses  developed 
Mosaism;  and  when  the  tabernacle  at  Shiloh  was  de- 
stroyed, Mosaism  was  overthrown.  It  has  been  the  cus- 
tom of  theologians  and  theological  historians  to  regard 
this  period  as  a  theocracy  in  which  God,  through  some 
remarkable  way,  governed  Israel.  Grave  errors  have 
arisen  from  this  mode  of  viewing  a  history,  which  un- 
folded itself  in  the  most  normal  method.  The  period 
which  we  are  now  to  consider  covers  the  time  when  Is- 
rael was  under  the  Sinaitic  law  which  Moses  gave  as 
the  first  Hebrew  constitution,  and  that  determined  the 
order  of  things  in  the  body  politic.  Exodus-Deuter- 
onomy contains  our  records  of  the  events  in  this  period 
and  also  the  legislation  itself. 

The  principal  events  in  the  history  prior  to  the  formu- 
lation of  this  law  code,  which  governed  the  people  and 
produced  Mosaism,  were  the  deliverance  from  Egypt, 
the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptians  in  the  Red  Sea,  and  the 
long  sojourning  in  the  great  and  terrible  wilderness. 
The  records  associate  with  these  experiences  signs  and 
wonders  wrought  by  the  power  of  Jehovah.  The  Jews 
verily  believed  these  things  occurred  as  they  are  nar- 
rated; and  Christians  from  the  first  have  accepted  them 
as  facts,  and  have  conformed  their  view  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  in  accordance  with  this  faith. 


2  THE   SINAITIC  TORA. 

Higher  criticism,  in  a  most  masterly  way  and  after  a 
prolonged  conflict  hotly  waged  for  well-nigh  a  century, 
has  disturbed  this  traditional  view  respecting  Mosaism, 
a  result  accomplished  by  showing  that  the  records  of 
these  events  and  of  the  legislation,  which  we  have  in 
Exodus-Deuteronomy,  abound  in  repetitions,  inconsist- 
encies, duplicate  accounts,  and  that  what  had  been  re- 
ceived as  the  work  of  a  single  writer  was  the  commin- 
gling of  several  different  accounts  and  codes.  The 
indisputable  facts  which  higher  criticism  has  established 
are  that  there  is  this  strange  confusion  in  the  traditional 
Exodus-Deuteronomy.  It  presents  also  several  codes 
and  corresponding  narratives  as  theories  to  account  for 
these  facts.  The  codes  are  of  course  only  related  to 
the  legislative  matter  in  the  Exodus-Deuteronomy.  And 
for  its  codes  this  critical  school  was  obliged  to  develop 
a  history  of  Israel  in  conformity  with  them.  This  the- 
oretical history  is  antagonistic  to  the  view  which  has 
been  the  heritage  of  the  Church. 

Important  indeed  is  it  to  understand  the  character 
of  this  history  of  Israel  which  higher  criticism  has 
builded.  Wellhausen  speaks  of  the  events  leading  to 
the  exodus  from  Egypt  as  follows:  *' Forced  labor  was 
exacted  from  them  (the  Israelites)  for  the  construc- 
tion of  new  public  works  in  Goshen,  an  exaction  which 
was  felt  to  be  an  assault  upon  their  freedom  and  honor, 
and  which  in  point  of  fact  was  fitted  to  take  away  all 
that  was  distinctive  of  their  nationality.  But  they  had 
no  remedy  at  hand  and  submitted  in  despair,  until  Moses 
at  last  saw  a  favorable  opportunity  of  deliverance.  Re- 
minding his  oppressed  brethren  of  the  God  of  their  fa- 
thers and  urging  that  their  cause  was  his,  he  taught  them 
to  regard  self-assertion  against  the  Egyptians  as  an  ar- 


MOSAISM  AND   CRITICISM.  3 

tide  of  religion,  and  they  became  once  more  a  united 
people  in  a  determination  to  seek  refuge  from  oppres- 
sion in  the  wilderness,  which  was  the  dwelling  place  of 
their  kindred  and  the  seat  of  their  God.  At  a  time 
when  Egypt  was  scourged  by  a  previous  plague  the 
Hebrews  broke  up  their  settlement  in  Goshen  one 
night  in  the  spring,  and  directed  their  steps  toward  their 
old  home  again.  According  to  the  accounts  the  king 
had  consented  to  the  exodus,  had  even  forced  it  on; 
but  it  was  none  the  less  a  secret  flight."  {^Encyclo, 
Brit.,  Art.  *«  Israel.") 

The  scriptural  account  differs.  According  to  it  the 
Hebrews  were  made  to  endure  enforced  labor,  but  there 
is  no  intimation  that  this  bondage  was  "felt  to  be 
an  assault  upon  their  freedom  and  honor."  In  the 
Scriptures  it  is  clearly  made  manifest  that  the  peo- 
ple were  **in  despair,"  but  there  is  not  so  much  as  a 
suggestion  that  "Moses  at  last  saw  a  favorable  oppor- 
tunity of  deliverance,"  when  a  grievous  plague  was 
ravaging  the  land  of  Egypt.  There  is  not  a  line  which 
appeals  directly  to  the  reader  with  impressiveness  in 
this  delineation  of  the  exodus  by  this  higher  critic.  But 
in  the  account  given  in  the  Scriptures  the  imagination  is 
at  every  turn  addressed.  Marvelous  doings  one  after 
another  are  brought  to  pass  in  the  name  of  Jehovah  to 
work  faith  not  alone  in  Pharaoh  to  consent  to  let  Israel 
go,  but  in  the  Israelites  themselves,  so  that  they  should 
believe  the  day  of  their  deliverance  had  come. 

Higher  criticism  calmly  relegates  these  associated 
wonders  with  the  exodus,  which  are  recorded  in  the 
Scriptures,  to  the  religious  fancies  of  later  ages.  We 
make  no  outcry  against  the  conclusion.  If  it  be  the 
only  sure  conclusion,  then  it  should  be  accepted,  and 


4  THE   SINAITIC   TORA. 

the  elements  of  our  faith  which  rest  on  these  events 
should  be  eliminated.  The  improbability  of  these  oc- 
currences as  set  forth  in  the  Scriptures  cannot  be  al- 
leged as  ground  for  their  impossibility.  They  would 
have  been  disposed  of  as  idle  tales  had  they  been 
interwoven  into  the  Homeric  legends.  The  Olympus 
of  the  Greeks  and  the  gods  of  Zeus' s  high  court  and 
such  deeds  as  were  wrought  in  Egypt  for  Israel  would 
have  been  regarded  only  as  a  part  of  the  religious  folk 
law.  But  these  accounts  in  the  Scriptures  are  closely 
connected  with  the  loftiest  idea  of  God  and  with  the 
purest  code  of  morals.  These  facts  have  led  the  stron- 
gest minds  of  the  past  to  accept  the  scriptural  account 
as  true.  They  could  be  true  nowhere  else  except  in 
connection  with  Hebrew  history.  Even  here  they 
would  lack  sufficient  warrant,  unless  Moses  gave  a 
law  code  as  striking  as  the  events  are  amazing. 

The  Exodus  relates  how  Israel  passed  through  the 
Red  Sea,  and  also  how  at  that  time  in  its  waters  the 
Egyptians  who  pursued  them  were  drowned.  Well- 
hausen  gives  the  following  account  of  this  event.  He 
says:  **The  Hebrews,  compelled  to  abandon  the  direct 
eastward  road,  turned  toward  the  southwest,  and  en- 
camped at  last  upon  the  Egyptian  shore  of  the  northern 
arm  of  the  Red  Sea,  where  they  were  overtaken  by 
Pharaoh's  army.  The  situation  was  a  critical  one;  but 
a  high  wind  during  the  night  had  left  the  shallow  sea 
so  low  that  it  became  possible  to  ford  it.  Moses  eager- 
ly accepted  the  suggestion,  and  made  the  venture  with 
success.  The  Egyptians,  rushing  after,  came  up  with 
them  on  the  farther  shore,  and  a  struggle  ensued.  But 
the  assailants  fought  at  a  disadvantage,  the  ground  be- 
ing ill  suited  for  their  chariots  and  horsemen.     They 


MOSAISM  AND   CRITICISM.  5 

fell  into  confusion,  and  attempted  a  retreat.  Mean- 
while the  wind  had  changed,  the  waters  returned,  and 
the  pursuers  were  annihilated."  (^Ericyclo.  Brit.,  Art. 
^*  Israel.") 

According  to  higher  criticism  then,  only  a  happy  oc- 
currence saved  Israel  that  day.  Not  so,  however,  is  it 
recorded  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures.  The  salvation  was 
due,  according  to  this  record,  to  the  intervention  in  be- 
half of  Israel  on  the  part  of  Jehovah.  We  must  not 
be  blind  to  what  higher  criticism  will  require  of  us,  if 
its  theories  are  true.  If  this  Hebrew  literature  is  the 
creation  of  times  later  by  centuries  than  Moses's  day, 
and  the  faith  of  these  later  times  was  crammed  into 
some  historical  fancy  such  as  higher  criticism  depicts, 
then  we  have  this  strange  phenomenon,  namely,  a  lofty 
religious  faith  imparted  through  a  lie,  unless  we  regard 
all  this  early  history  as  parabolic  writings. 

In  respect  to  the  Hebrew  Scriptures  biblical  scholars 
are  grouped  into  two  schools,  higher  critics  and  the  rest. 
It  is  vanity  to  claim  for  the  higher  critics  the  scientific 
methods,  and  relegate  all  that  the  remaining  scholars 
do  as  work  wrought  out  under  traditional  prejudices 
which  blind  men  to  the  truth.  The  facts  of  higher  crit- 
icism must  be  accepted.  These  ancient  writings  as  we 
possess  them  could  not  have  been  written  having  the 
crudities  of  style  which  appear  on  every  page.  But 
these  facts  of  crudities  in  the  present  state  of  these 
writings  have  been  the  means  of  foisting  upon  the  think- 
ing mind  theories  which  annihilate  the  accepted  under- 
standing of  the  development  of  history  in  Israel.  Pro- 
fessor G.  H.  Schodde  states  the  result  admirably  in  these 
words:  *'The  great  evil  of  modern  Pentateuchal  criti- 
cism does  not  he  in  the  analysis  into  documents,  but  in 


6  THE   SINAITIC  TORA. 

the  erection  upon  this  analysis  of  a  superstructure  of 
pseudo-history  and  religion,  that  runs  directly  counter 
to  the  revealed  and  historic  character  of  the  Penta- 
teuch."    (Pent.  Analysis,  p.  i6o.) 

The  only  portion  of  the  above  quotation  which  we 
here  emphasize  is  the  expression,  **  superstructure  of 
pseudo-history  and  religion."  No  reader  of  the  Pen- 
tateuch can  doubt  that  the  idea  of  Israel  being  a  chosen 
people  is  interwoven  through  the  warp  and  woof  of  the 
records.  The  deliverance  of  Israel  from  Egypt  was 
the  deliverance  of  a  chosen  people.  Now  Wellhausen 
says:  **The  foundation  upon  which,  at  all  periods,  Is- 
rael's sense  of  its  national  unity  rested  was  religious  in 
its  character.  It  was  the  faith  which  may  be  summed 
up  in  the  formula,  Jehovah  is  the  God  of  Israel,  and  Is- 
rael is  the  people  of  Jehovah.  Moses  was  not  the  first 
discoverer  of  this  faith,  but  it  was  through  him  that  it 
came  to  be  the  fundamental  basis  of  the  national  exist- 
ence and  history.  The  exigencies  of  their  position  sev- 
ered a  number  of  kindred  clans  from  their  customary 
surroundings,  and  drove  them  into  arms.  He  under- 
took the  responsibility  of  their  leadership,  and  the  con- 
fidence of  success  which  he  manifested  was  justified  by 
the  result.  .  .  .  Alike  what  was  done  by  the  deliberate 
purpose  of  Moses  and  what  was  done  without  any  hu- 
man contrivance,  by  nature  and  by  accident,  came  to 
be  regarded  in  one  totality  as  the  doing  of  Jehovah  for 
Israel.  Jehovah  it  was  who  had  directed  each  step  in 
that  process  through  which  these  so  diverse  elements, 
brought  together  by  the  pressure  of  necessity,  had  been 
caused  to  pass,  and  in  the  course  of  which  the  first  feel- 
ings of  national  unity  had  been  made  to  grow."  (^Eficy- 
clo.  Brtt.jKri.  *' Israel.")    The  one  purpose  of  this  par- 


MOSAISM  AND  CRITICISM.  7 

agraph  is  to  represent  the  Exodus  account  as  unhis- 
torical,  as  an  afterthought  many  centuries  later.  Well- 
hausen's  meaning  is  that  Israel,  as  every  other  nation  of 
antiquity,  first  were  migrating  tribes;  that  Moses  ap- 
peared at  a  time  these  tribes  were  more  or  less  oppressed, 
and  that  he  became  the  inspiring  leader  who  delivered 
them  and  laid  the  foundations  of  the  nations.  Attributing 
the  development  of  Israel  to  any  other  cause  is,  accord- 
ing to  this  view,  to  contravene  the  order  of  nature  in 
national  unfolding. 

The  belief  of  the  Christian  Church  and  of  the  Jews 
cannot  be  reconciled  with  this  view.  They  believe  that 
Moses  was  called  of  Jehovah  for  the  special  service  of 
delivering  Israel  from  bondage  and  of  imparting  to  this 
rescued  people  a  new  and  lofty  idea  of  God  and  of 
making  this  nation  a  mediator  of  the  same  to  the  world. 
The  records  of  Israel,  as  we  have  them,  certainly  de- 
clare such  a  mission  for  the  nation.  But  higher  criti- 
cism casts  suspicion  upon  the  historical  credibility  of 
these  ancient  records.  Reconstructive  criticism  accepts 
the  facts  of  discordances  in  these  writings,  but  claims 
that  they  are  due  to  the  intermingling  of  two  copies  of 
ancient  Hebrew  documents,  and  which,  when  restored, 
will  establish  the  view  of  the  exodus  long  held  by  Jews 
and  Christians,  making  Israel's  development  unique. 

In  this  present  volume  reconstructive  criticism  pro- 
poses to  restore  the  ancient  Sinaitic  Code  in  two  copies 
from  what  remains  of  the  Deuteronomic  and  the  Pro- 
phetic codes,  and  the  early  portion  of  the  Priestly  Code 
according  to  higher  criticism,  after  the  Mosaic  Tora  in 
two  copies  has  been  taken  away.  Let  us  illustrate  the 
method  of  research  which  reconstructive  criticism  fol- 
lows .     Suppose  there  was  found  an  ancient  gospel  which 


8  THE   SINAITIC  TORA. 

was  a  commingling  of  two  of  our  present  gospels,  and 
that  the  manuscripts  of  the  present  gospels  had  been 
destroyed.  One  section  of  this  composite  gospel  would 
record  the  doings  of  Jesus  immediately  after  the  impris- 
onment of  John  the  Baptist.  Representing  now  Mat- 
thew's Gospel  by  Roman  m  and  that  of  Mark  by  italic 
M,  this  section  would  be  as  follows : 

CHRIST  AFTER  JOHN'S  IMPRISONMENT. 
M.  iJ      Now  after  that  John  was  put  in  prison ; 
M.  12  and  when  Jesus   had   heard   that  John  was 
M.  14  cast  into  prison,  he  departed  and  came  into 
M.  17  Galilee.     From  that  time  Jesus  began  to 
Jif.ijM.i}  preach,  preaching  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom 
M.  15  of  God,  and  to  say,  saying,  The  time  is  ful- 
filled, and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand : 
M.iji)/.  16 REPENT  ye,  and  believe  the  gospel;   for  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand. 

There  is  no  very  great  inconsistency  in  the  narrative. 
But  a  critical  scholar  would  feel  that  the  first  principles 
of  a  good  literary  style  were  violated  in  the  paragraph. 
The  use  of  the  verb  say  in  the  form  of  a  participle  and 
a  tense,  also  the  employment  together  of  a  participle 
and  infinitive  of  the  verb  '*to  preach"  would  be  detect- 
ed. Yet  these  peculiarities  would  be  explained  upon  the 
ground  of  mannerisms.  The  mention  of  the  kingdom 
of  God  several  times  would  be  treated  as  a  mode  of  par- 
allelism; to  some  a  beauty,  to  others  a  tedious  repeti- 
tion. If  the  matter  of  the  writing  were  of  incomparable 
worth  to  the  world,  the  writing  would  be  studied  and  its 
infirmities  endured  for  the  sake  of  its  contents.  This 
in  brief  is  the  history  of  the  Pentateuch  and  other  por- 
tions of  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures. 

Suppose  now  a  critical  school  should  arise  and  em- 


MOSAISM  AND  CRITICISM.  9 

phasize  these  peculiarities  of  style  and  affirm  that  no 
respectable  writer  could  be  guilty  of  such  literary  ab- 
surdities, and  should  proffer  a  theory  to  account  for  these 
crudities  of  style  as  follows:  '*  Several  accounts  were  at 
one  time  current,  and  they  were  joined  together,  keep- 
ing what  was  most  important.  And  later  this  composite 
narrative  with  its  inconsistencies  was  several  times  re- 
dacted.' '  There  of  course  would  be  grave  dissatisfaction 
on  the  part  of  those  who  had  for  a  long  time  received 
the  composite  document  as  the  original.  In  the  midst 
of  this  controversy  suppose  one  should  affirm,  **  The  sup- 
posed original  is  not  original,  nor  is  it  a  composite  doc- 
ument with  supplemental  additions,  but  simply  the  com- 
position of  two  narratives."  If  now  the  two  narratives 
were  reproduced,  full  and  with  an  admirable  literary 
style,  the  reproduction  would  be  the  demonstration  of  the 
theory.  This  is  the  position  respectively  of  higher  and 
reconstructive  criticism.  We  will  now  give  Mark's  ac- 
count and  then  a  part  of  Matthew's  account. 

MARK'S  ACCOUNT  OF  THIS  EVENT  CONNECTED 
WITH  JOHN  THE  BAPTIST, 

Now  after  that  John  was  put  in  prison,  Je- 
sus came  into  Galilee,  preaching  the  kingdom 
of  God,  and  saying,  The  time  is  fulfilled,  and 
the  kingdom  of  God  is  at  hand  :  repent  ye,  and 
believe  the  gospel.     (Mark  i.  14,  15.) 

MA TTHE  WS  ACCO UNT. 
Now  when  Jesus  had  heard  that  John  was 
cast  into  prison,  he  departed  into  Galilee.  .  .  . 
From  that  time  Jesus  began  to  preach,  and  to 
say,  Repent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at 
hand.     (Matt.  iv.  12,  17.) 

A  reference  to  the  composite  account  above  and  a 


lO  THE   SINAITIC  TORA. 

glance  at  the  words  in  small  capitals  will  show  any  one 
the  matter  which  is  common  to  each  account.  The  dif- 
ficulty of  separating  from  the  composite  narrative  these 
accounts  of  Matthew  and  Mark  would  be  very  great. 
But  if  it  were  accomplished,  there  could  be  no  reason- 
able doubt  but  that  the  theory  of  a  commingling  of  two 
gospels  would  be  demonstrated. 

In  regard  to  the  present  investigations,  we  affirm  that 
reconstructive  criticism,  according  to  its  theory,  consid- 
ers that  there  is  a  commingling  together,  in  Deuteron- 
omy and  Exodus-Numbers,  of  two  copies  of  the  Mo- 
saic Tora  and  two  copies  of  the  Sinaitic  Law.  In  our 
volume  upon  the  Tora  of  Moses  we  have  established 
one  part  of  this  theory:  in  this  volume  we  will  repro- 
duce the  two  copies  of  the  Law  at  Sinai.  In  weighing 
the  conclusiveness  of  the  proof  of  the  theory  of  recon- 
structive criticism,  it  must  be  remembered  that  scholars 
have  not  even  suspected  a  single  copy  of  a  complete 
code  in  Exodus— Deuteronomy,  not  to  speak  of  two 
copies  of  two  complete  codes.  When  now  reconstruct- 
ive criticism  under  its  principles  reproduces  two  copies 
of  another  complete  code,  antedating  the  Mosaic  Code 
only  by  a  few  years,  credence  can  scarcely  be  withheld 
from  the  theory  which  we  advance. 


CHAPTER  II. 

hilkiah's  book  of  the  law. 

The  wand  of  higher  criticism  has  changed  by  its 
magic  touch  the  facts  of  the  histor}-  of  Israel  into  ideal 
representations  made  by  religious  enthusiasts  of  post- 
exilic  times.  "The  Chronicler  reflects  faithfully  the 
spirit  of  his  age.  A  new  mode  of  viewing  the  past 
history  of  his  nation  began  to  prevail:  pre-exilic  Judah 
was  pictured  as  already  in  possession  of  the  institutions, 
and  governed,  at  least  in  its  greater  and  better  men,  by 
the  ideas  and  principles  which  were  dominant  at  a  later 
day;  the  empire  of  David  and  his  successors  was  im- 
agined on  a  scale  of  unsurpassed  power  and  mag- 
nificence; the  past,  in  a  word,  was  idealized,  and  its 
history  (where  necessary)  written  accordingly.  Thus 
the  institutions  of  the  present,  which  had  in  fact  been 
developed  gradua.lly,  are  represented  as  organized  in 
their  completeness  by  David;  the  ritual  of  the  Priest's 
Code  is  duly  observed;  the  passovers  of  Hezekiah 
and  Josiah  (the  former  is  not  mentioned  in  the  Book 
of  Kings  at  all,  and  the  latter  only  briefly)  are  de- 
scribed with  an  abundance  of  ceremonial  detail,  sug- 
gested no  doubt  by  occasions  which  the  compiler  had 
witnessed  himself;  David  organizes  a  vast  military  force 
and  amasses  for  the  temple  enormous  treasures;  his  suc- 
cessors have  command  of  huge  armies  and  are  victori- 
ous against  forces  huger  even  than  their  own.  In  these 
and  similar  representations  there  is  certainly  much  that 
cannot  be  strictly  historical :  but  the  Chronicler  must  not 
on  this  account  be  held  guilty  of  a  deliberate  perversion 


12  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

of  history;  he  and  his  contemporaries  did  not  question 
that  the  past  was  actually  as  they  pictured  it,  and  the 
Chronicler  simply  gives  expression  to  this  persuasion." 
(Driver's  Introduction,  p.  501.) 

We  will  admit  that  numerical  statements  by  the  Chron- 
icler and  other  writers  of  the  Old  Testament  are  open  to 
suspicion,  but  we  hold  to  historical  veracity  in  the  records 
pertaining  to  cultus  and  to  the  administration  of  the  king- 
dom. Post-exilic  times  developed  nothing  but  a  bigoted 
zeal  for  the  religious  cultus  of  the  earlier  times.  Indeed, 
zeal  then  for  the  house  ate  up  the  Almighty,  the  owner 
of  the  habitation.  Assuming  now  that  facts  are  recorded 
in  the  Chronicles,  what  may  we  learn  from  their  records 
of  the  cultus  of  Israel  as  it  existed  in  pre-exilic  times  ?  We 
will  now  quote  Kuenen  as  to  the  teaching  of  the  Chronicler 
in  reference  to  these  matters.  He  says:  "According  to  the 
accounts  of  the  books  of  the  Chronicles,  then,  the  tora, 
and  particularly  its  ritual  portions,  had  been  established 
from  the  earliest  times,  and  specially  since  the  reign  of 
David,  as  the  universally  recognized  standard,  which 
well-disposed  persons,  whether  kings  or  people,  ob- 
served and  maintained.  Thus  in  obedience  to  the 
precepts  of  the  tora  (Ex.  xxv.  sqq.)  the  okel  7no^ ed  re- 
mained the  only  legitimate  place  of  offering  till  Solo- 
mon's temple  was  completed  (i  Chron.  vi.  17,  34;  xvi. 
39,  40;  xxi.  28-30;  2  Chron.  i.  3,  5,  sqq.;  v.  5);  the 
priesthood  was  hereditary  in  Aaron's  family  (i  Chron. 
vi.  34);  the  high-priestly  office  was  filled  by  the  de- 
scendants of  Eleazar  ben  Aaron  (i  Chron.  v.  30-41); 
the  exclusive  qualification  of  the  priests  to  offer  sacrifice 
was  jealously  guarded  (2  Chron.  xxvi.  16-21);  the  Le- 
vites  were  always  distinguished  from  the  priests  and 
confined  to  those  lower  offices  about  the  sanctuary  with 


hilkiah's  book  of  the  law.  13 

which  they  were  especially  intrusted  (i  Chron.  xii. 
3  sqq.,  28-32);  while  all  non-Levites  were  excluded 
from  the  sanctuary  (2  Chron.  xxiii.  6)."  (Hexateuch, 
p.  192.) 

In  our  volume  entitled  ''  The  Tora  of  Moses ' '  we  have 
given  in  two  copies  a  code  which  requires  every  one  of 
these  features  as  connected  with  the  cultus  of  Israel.  A 
reading  of  this  tora  will  show  that  it  was  given  in  the 
trans-Jordanic  territory,  only  a  short  time  before  the  Is- 
raelites passed  over  the  Jordan.  The  presence  of  this 
restored  tora  as  an  authority  in  Israel  would  necessitate 
the  peculiar  religious  institutions  and  practices  among 
this  people  throughout  their  national  development.  We 
will  next  ask,  What  is  that  form  of  religious  cultus 
which  is  recognized  in  the  Book  of  the  Kings?  And  we 
quote  Kuenen  again:  *'In  the  Book  of  the  Kings  re- 
peated reference  is  made  to  '  the  Tora  of  Moses.'  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  what  is  meant  is  the  tora  which 
Deuteronomy  represents  Moses  as  delivering  in  the  trans- 
Jordanic  region,  and  subsequently  committing  to  writ- 
ing." (Hexateuch,  p.  186.)  Now,  this  tora  is  the  one 
which  we  restored  in  our  previous  volume,  which  dif- 
fers from  the  Kings  only  because  of  such  disarrange- 
ment as  we  have  found  in  Exodus-Deuteronomy. 

Mosaism  flourished  in  that  period  of  the  history  of 
Israel  included  between  the  crossing  by  the  victorious 
tribes  of  the  river  Jordan  and  that  wholly  complete 
destruction  of  the  ohel  mo'  ed  at  Shiloh  by  the  Philis- 
tines. The  tora,  as  restored  by  reconstructive  criticism, 
was  the  constitution  of  the  Israelites  during  this  period. 
The  removal  of  the  ark  of  Jehovah  from  Israelitish  ter- 
ritory, after  its  capture  by  the  Philistines  in  Eli's  life- 
time, was  practically  the  overthrow  of  this  constitution 


14  THE  SINAITIC   TORA. 

and  the  downfall  of  Mosaism.  Higher  criticism  denies 
the  existence  of  a  written  Tora  of  Moses.  It  finds  in  the 
Pentateuch  an  historical  tradition  and  a  legislative  tra- 
dition, and  from  the  historical  tradition  only  do  we  find 
information  concerning  Mosaism.  Wellhausen  says: 
*'From  the  historical  tradition  then  it  is  certain  that 
Moses  was  the  founder  of  the  tora.  But  the  legislative 
tradition  cannot  tell  us  what  were  the  positive  contents 
of  his  tora."  Writing  was  then  known.  Why  not  a  writ- 
ten tora  ?  Here  is  the  parting  of  the  ways  between  higher 
criticism  and  reconstructive  criticism.  The  former  de- 
nies that  a  written  tora  was  given  Israel  by  Moses,  while 
the  latter  affirms  this  to  have  been  done,  and  to  support 
its  contention  restores  this  tora  in  two  copies. 

Higher  criticism  on  its  part  analyzes  Exodus-Deuter- 
onomy, and  finds  therein  three  codes,  JE,  D,  and  P.; 
and  it  has  separated  these  three,  but  it  finds  in  each 
only  a  partial  code,  much  redacted.  Its  advocates  make 
no  claim  for  a  consistent,  full,  and  logical  document 
either  in  JE,  or  D,  or  P.  Reconstructive  criticism,  on 
the  contrary,  affirms  that  there  is  in  this  Exodus-Deuter- 
onomy not  alone  a  code,  which  it  calls  the  Tora  of 
Moses,  and  that  it  is  a  full,  consistent,  and  logical  body 
of  law;  but  produces  two  copies  of  this  tora.  It  further 
holds  that  in  what  remains  there  is  another  full,  complete, 
and  logical  code,  which  it  denominates  as  the  Sinaitic 
Tora,  and  it  will  produce  in  this  volume  two  copies  of 
this  second  tora. 

The  determination  of  the  chronology  of  its  three  codes 
(  JE,  D,  and  P)  on  the  part  of  higher  criticism  rests  upon 
this  statement  in  the  Book  of  the  Kings:  ''And  Hilki- 
ah  the  high  priest  said  unto  Shaphan  the  scribe,  I  have 
found  the  book  of  the  law  in  the  house  of  Jehovah." 


hilkiah's  book  of  the  law.  15 

Wellhausen  says :  '*  When  we  read  then  that  King  Josiah 
was  moved  to  destroy  the  local  sanctuaries  by  the  discov- 
ery of  a  law  book,  this  book,  assuming  it  to  be  preserved 
in  the  Pentateuch,  can  be  none  other  than  the  legisla- 
tive part  of  Deuteronomy,  which  must  once  have  had 
a  separate  existence  in  a  shorter  form  than  the  present 
Book  of  Deuteronomy."  {£ncyclo.  Brit.,  Art.  '*  Pen- 
tateuch.") 

Controversy  has  waxed  warm  among  the  higher  crit- 
ics as  to  whether  Hilkiah's  law  book  and  Deuterono- 
my are  identical.  Vatke  urges  the  theory  that  Hilkiah's 
law  book  coincides  with  the  laws  in  Ex.  xx.— xxiv.  (the 
Book  of  the  Covenant),  and  certain  ordinances  now  in- 
corporated in  Deuteronomy.  This  contention  would 
naturally  arise.  Higher  criticism  accepts  the  code 
known  as  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  and  the  Deuteron- 
omic  Code.  The  discovered  law  book  must  be  one  or 
the  other,  allowing  for  interpolations  if  it  is  the  Code  of 
the  Covenant,  or  for  redactions  if  it  be  the  Deuteron- 
omic  Code.  The  question  must  always  be  an  open  one, 
unless  some  new  theory  be  advocated  which  denies  the 
analysis  that  produced  these  two  codes. 

Kuenen  identifies  the  law  book  of  Hilkiah  with  the 
* 'kernel  of  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  (v.-xxvi., 
xxviii.)."  In  regard  to  the  characteristics  of  this  newly 
discovered  book  of  the  law  he  says:  *'The  length  of 
the  book  was  such  as  to  allow  of  its  being  read  aloud  to 
the  king  by  Shaphan  (2  Kings  xxii.  10),  and  by  the 
king  in  his  turn  to  the  people  in  the  temple  (xxiii.  2); 
and  this  prevents  our  thinking  of  the  whole  Pentateuch, 
but  falls  in  well  enough  with  the  supposition  that  the  ker- 
nel of  Deuteronomy,  or  a  still  smaller  collection,  is  in- 
tended.    Hilkiah's  book  contained  precepts  about  the 


l6  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

paschal  feast  (2  Kings  xxiii.  21),  and  terrible  denun- 
ciations against  those  who  should  transgress  its  ordi- 
nances (2  Kings  xxii.  13  sqq.).  Finally,  it  occa- 
sions a  reformation  of  the  cultus,  aiming  at  the 
complete  extirpation  of  idolatry  and  the  suppression 
of  the  bamoth — i.  e.,  the  centralization  of  sacrifices 
and  festivals  at  the  temple  of  Jerusalem."  (Hexa- 
teuch,  p.  216.) 

A  reference  to  the  passages  referred  to  by  Kuenen 
will  show  that  the  denunciations  are  not  because  the  ordi- 
nances of  the  paschal  feast  are  transgressed,  but  because 
Israel  had  burned  incense  unto  other  gods  and  had  forsak- 
en Jehovah.  This  book  of  law,  discovered  by  Hilkiah, 
wrought,  according  to  Kuenen,  ''a  reformation  of  the 
cultus  and  aimed  at  the  centralization  of  worship  in  Je- 
rusalem." The  record  in  Kings  simply  shows  that  the 
book  led  to  the  demolition  of  all  altars  unto  other  gods, 
and  in  short  the  obliteration  of  everything  that  savored 
of  idolatry.     Nothing  more. 

Higher  criticism  revels  in  inferences  based  upon  the 
assumption  that  at  this  time,  in  the  reign  of  Josiah,  we 
have  first  centralization  of  worship  in  Jerusalem.  Its 
advocates  have  been  misled  by  this  assumption.  There 
was  centralization  of  worship  in  Israel  when  the  tribes, 
after  a  career  of  victory,  set  up  the  tabernacle  at  Shi- 
loh.  During  this  period  the  Tora  of  Moses  was  the 
norm  according  to  which  the  body  politic  was  conduct- 
ed. The  tribes  had  their  allotted  territory,  and  lived  in 
their  cities.  Justice  was  administered  by  judges  ap- 
pointed by  the  citizens.  Instructions  were  given  in  the 
tora  to  the  judge  and  to  the  witness.  The  crimes  of 
violence  were  brought  before  the  court  of  the  Levites. 
Appeal  was  made  to  the  priests  at  the  central  sanctu- 


HILKIAH^S  BOOK  OF  THE  LAW.  t*J 

ary.  Laws  were  given  for  the  treatment  of  the  neigh- 
bor; provision  was  made  for  the  poor  and  needy  and  the 
stranger.  Indeed,  the  civil  code  is  full  and  most  admira- 
ble. There  are  also  instructions  in  this  Tora  of  Moses 
respecting  the  punishment  those  should  suffer  that  de- 
parted from  faith  in  Jehovah  and  worshiped  other  gods. 
The  feasts  were  established,  or  rather  recorded,  which 
Israel  should  observe  every  year.  The  period  during 
which  the  tabernacle  stood  at  Shiloh  is  the  period  of 
Mosaism  in  Israel.  Samuel  witnessed  the  destruction 
of  the  tabernacle  at  Shiloh  by  the  Philistines.  The 
overthrow  was  awful.  All  that  the  hate  of  a  victorious 
people,  which  had  been  envious  of  Israel  for  centuries, 
could  devise  to  complete  the  destruction  of  this  vener- 
ated sanctuary  was  done,  and  the  pitiless  devastation 
shocked  Israel  and  destroyed  Mosaism  and  for  a  time 
there  was  no  worship  at  a  central  shrine  in  Israel. 

The  period  of  Samuel  was  a  time  when  men  returned 
to  that  mode  of  worship  which  had  been  practiced  be- 
fore the  tabernacle  was  set  up  at  Sinai.  It  was  in  this 
period  that  the  covenant  of  Jehovah  began  to  assume  new 
significance.  Samuel  may  rightly  be  called  the  prophet 
of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant.  My  next  volume  will  be 
entitled  *'  The  Book  of  the  Covenant."  This  work  will 
establish  the  affirmation  in  this  paragraph  as  completely 
as  my  Tora  of  Moses  will  confirm  the  statements  in  the 
preceding  one.  The  bamoth  became  common  in  Israel 
at  this  time.  But  they  were  legitimate  places  of  wor- 
ship of  Jehovah,  and  had  the  authority  of  the  Book  of 
the  Covenant  to  back  the  custom.  The  popular  demand 
in  Samuel's  time  was  not  for  centralized  worship,  but 
for  a  centralized  government.  The  seer  tried  to  stem 
this  popular  tide,  but  was  powerless  before  its  mighty 


l8  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

movement.     Hence  Saul  was  anointed  king.     During 
his  reign  worship  was  upon  the  bamoth. 

The  establishment  of  the  Davidic  kingdom  secured 
two  great  ends.  The  first  was  the  foundation  of  a  mon- 
archy with  a  royal  residence ;  the  second  was  the  cen- 
tralization of  worship  at  Jerusalem  and  the  restoration 
of  Mosaism.  The  constitution  of  the  kingdom  was  the 
Tora  of  Moses,  and  the  Davidic  tabernacle  was  but 
the  restoration  of  that  which  had  been  destroyed  at 
Shiloh.  The  services  of  the  tabernacle  were  elaborated 
with  greater  splendor,  but  the  rites  and  ceremonies  and 
the  priesthood  were  the  same  as  Moses  had  ordained 
according  to  the  command  of  God  at  Sinai.  Solomon's 
kingdom  is  but  the  continuation  of  the  principles  of  the 
Davidic,  and  only  in  the  religious  cultus  does  it  seem 
that  any  remarkable  change  took  place.  Indeed,  the 
chief  splendor  of  Solomon's  reign  in  the  view  of  after 
times  was  the  rearing  of  the  temple.  Yet  David  made 
preparation  for  this  building,  and  gave  carefully  pre- 
pared plans  for  the  edifice.  Now  the  law  which  was 
authority  in  the  kingdom  of  Solomon  was  of  course  the 
same  which  his  father  David  had  made  the  norm  of  his 
kingdom.  At  no  period  in  the  history  of  Israel  was 
worship  more  centralized  than  during  the  existence  of 
the  united  kingdom. 

The  divided  kingdom  was  accompanied  with  a  decen- 
tralization of  worship.  There  must  have  been  stron- 
gest reason  given  to  the  Israelites  of  the  northern  king- 
dom before  they  could  have  been  induced  to  worship  at 
any  place  other  than  at  Jerusalem.  When  Jeroboam 
built  houses  for  the  priests  at  Bethel  and  Dan,  he  must 
have  had  other  reasons  to  persuade  his  people  than  the 
mere  prerogative  of  a  king.     The  extravagant  worship  at 


hilkiah's  book  of  the  law.  19 

Jerusalem  made  burdensome  taxation  upon  Israel.  The 
worship  at  Bethel  and  Dan  was  simpler;  at  any  rate, 
simpler  or  not,  there  must  have  been  some  strong  au- 
thority upon  which  King  Jeroboam  rested  in  order  to 
legitimatize  his  places  of  worship.  The  theory  we  ad- 
vance is  that  the  constitution  which  the  king  of  the 
northern  kingdom  chose  was  the  ancient  document, 
which  was  given  to  Israel  at  Sinai,  and  which  was  called 
the  Tora  of  Jehovah,  or  the  Book  of  the  Law;  that  a 
reasonable  interpretation  of  this  document  permitted 
several  places  of  worship ;  and  that  this  authority  was 
what  gave  a  legitimate  sanctity  to  the  places  of  worship 
at  Bethel  and  at  Dan. 

If  this  theory  be  true,  there  was  every  reason  why 
this  document  should  not  be  well  known  in  Judah.  The 
home  of  the  Tora  of  Moses  was  in  the  Davidic  kingdom, 
whose  royal  seat  was  at  Jerusalem.  It  would  seem,  in- 
deed, that  this  Sinaitic  law  book  was  kept  as  a  rare  doc- 
ument in  the  temple,  and  that  not  even  the  kings  of  Ju- 
dah were  acquainted  with  it.  A  copy  in  Josiah's  time 
was  found  in  the  temple  by  Hilkiah  the  high  priest,  and  he 
read  it  to  the  king,  and  it  made  such  an  impression  upon 
him  that  he  was  led  by  its  vehement  outcry  against  idol- 
atry to  enter  upon  the  extirpation  of  every  sign  of  wor- 
ship in  the  land  save  worship  of  Jehovah.  The  present 
volume  reproduces  in  two  copies  this  Sinaitic  Tora. 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE   HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

Reconstructive  criticism  made  a  most  bold  claim 
when  it  affirmed  that  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  con- 
tained for  the  most  part  ''  the  Tora  of  Moses  "  in  two 
copies.  The  assertion  was  made  in  the  face  of  the  sur- 
est conclusions  which  the  scholarship  of  our  century  had 
reached,  in  so  far  as  it  was  interested  in  biblical  criti- 
cism. Yet  we  established  the  claim  by  producing  two 
copies  of  the  Mosaic  Tora.  After  the  separation  of  these 
two  copies  from  Deuteronomy,  there  remained  of  this 
book  no  inconsiderable  part,  and  we,  in  our  volume 
upon  **The  Tora  of  Moses,"  stated  that  this  residue 
belonged  to  Exodus-Deuteronomy. 

The  claim  we  now  make  is  that  the  unused  portion  of 
Deuteronomy,  with  what  remained  of  the  ancient  group 
of  laws  in  Leviticus  and  what  remained  of  the  so-called 
Book  of  the  Covenant  after  we  had  subtracted  the  Tora 
of  Moses,  furnishes  the  material  out  of  which  we  will 
reconstruct  the  Tora  of  Jehovah,  a  tora  given  to  Israel 
at  Sinai,  and  which,  in  later  times,  became  the  tora 
for  the  northern  kingdom.  All  that  we  propose  to  do, 
within  the  limits  of  this  volume,  is  to  give  the  recovered 
tora  in  two  copies  and  to  add  the  Exodus-Numbers  ac- 
count of  the  events  in  Israel  while  the  Sinaitic  law  was 
the  civil  code  for  the  community.  The  introductory 
historical  survey  as  found  in  this  tora  will  be  conclusive 
of  its  being  given  at  Sinai,  just  as  the  historical  intro- 
duction to  the  Tora  of  Moses  proves  that  it  was  ut- 
tered in  the  trans-Jordanic  regions  before  the  crossing 
of  the  Jordan. 

(20) 


THE  HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION.  21 

A  most  remarkable  confirmation  of  the  theory  of 
reconstructive  criticism  will  have  been  given  when  the 
Sinaitic  Tora  in  two  copies  is  restored  by  these  investi- 
gations. In  Exodus-Deuteronomy  higher  criticism  has 
accepted  the  three  codes  known  as  the  Deuteronomic, 
Priestly,  and  Prophetic.  Yet  not  one  of  these,  as  pre- 
sented by  higher  critics,  is  a  logical  code,  and  each  one 
abounds  in  inconsistencies  and  repetitions  in  the  various 
provisions  found  in  these  documents.  Then,  too,  it 
must  be  kept  in  mind  that  only  a  single  copy  of  these 
three  codes  is  furnished  by  higher  criticism.  The  re- 
sults of  reconstructive  criticism  stand  in  bold  contrast 
with  these  codes.  For  they  present  two  toras,  each  con- 
sistent with  the  other ;  and  of  each  tora  reconstructive 
criticism  furnishes  two  copies. 

The  Sinaitic  Tora  has  a  kind  of  prefatory  sentence, 
which  is  made  to  precede  it  in  order  to  introduce  the 
tora  into  the  body  of  the  history  of  Israel,  of  which  it 
forms  a  part.  The  Tora  of  Moses  was  woven  into  this 
history  in  the  same  way. 

PREFATORT  STATEMENT  ACCORDING  TO  /. 

L^  These  are  the  statutes  and  judgments 
and  laws  which  Jehovah  made  between 
him  and  the  children  of  Israel  in  mount 
Sinai  by  the  hand  of  Moses. 

PREFATORT  STATEMENT  ACCORDING  TO  E, 

LgJ Js      These  are  the  commandments  and  stat- 
ic gjutes  and  judgments  which  Jehovah  com- 
manded Moses  for  the  children  of  Israel 
in  mount  Sinai. 

The  words  **  statutes  and  judgments"  in  the  copy  of 
E  are  supplied  from  Deuteronomy. 


22  THE   SINAITIC   TORA. 

The  historical  situation  alone  can  suggest  the  con- 
tent of  the  opening  sentences  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora. 
Moses  kept  alive  three  great  thoughts  in  Israel.  The 
first  was  that  Jehovah  had  delivered  the  people  from 
bondage ;  the  second,  that  he  had  made  Israel  a  chosen 
people;  the  third,  that  the  experiences  through  w^hich 
they  had  passed  in  the  great  and  terrible  desert  had 
been  ample  proof  that  Jehovah  v^as  faithful.  These 
thoughts,  and  the  theophany  w^hich  they  had  witnessed 
at  Mount  Sinai,  were  at  this  time  dominant  in  the  minds 
of  Israel.  They  would  naturally  be  alluded  to  in  the 
opening  words  of  the  tora. 

In  the  restoration  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora  we  will  desig- 
nate one  copy  by  J  and  the  other  by  E,  adding  here  no 
reason  for  this  method  of  distinguishing  them.  Also 
common  matter  will  be  in  small  capitals. 


THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

1,  10 


*  ^      Now  therefore  hearken,  O  Israel,  Ye  stand 


THIS    DAY    BEFORE  JeHOVAH    YOUR    GoD,    all 

of  you,  your  captains  of  your  tribes,  your  eld- 
6  ers,  and  your  officers.     He  chose  thee  to  be  a 
special  people  to  himself  above  all  the  people 
'that  are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth.     Jehovah 
did  not  set  his  love  upon  you  nor  choose  you  be- 
cause you  were  more  in  numbers  than  any  other 
people ;  for  ye  were  the  fewest  of  all  people. 
8  And  because  Jehovah  loved  you  and  because 
he  would  keep  the  oath  which  he  had  sworn 
unto  your  fathers,  hath  Jehovah  with  a  mighty 
hand  brought  you  out  from  the  hand  of  Pha- 
raoh, king  of  Egypt,  and  redeemed  you   out 
of  the  house  of  bondage. 

The  history  of  Israel  establishes  each  statement  in 


THE  HISTORICAL.  INTRODUCTION.  23 

these  opening  words.  It  was  at  Sinai  that  the  people 
were  organized  into  military  companies.  Captains  were 
prominent  in  this  military  community.  The  elders  were 
the  prominent  men  of  the  people,  heads  of  families  dur- 
ing the  bondage  in  Egypt.  The  officers  were  those 
who  carried  on  the  civil  administration  in  Israel.  It 
was  at  Horeb  or  thereabout  that  they  were  first  ap- 
pointed, and  the  innovation  was  made  at  the  suggestion 
of  Jethro,  father-in-law  to  Moses.  The  past  history  of 
Israel  demonstrated  that  they  were  the  chosen  people 
of  Jehovah.  Moses,  who  at  this  time  was  speaking  to 
them,  had  stood  before  Pharaoh  and  demanded  in  the 
name  of  Jehovah  that  his  people  should  be  let  go  out  of 
the  land  in  order  to  offer  sacrifice.  The  august  splen- 
dor of  the  power  of  Jehovah  must  have  passed  most 
vividly  before  the  mind  of  Moses  while  he  was  speak- 
ing; for  memory  would  recall  the  wonders  which  had 
gained  consent  from  Egypt's  monarch,  so  that  Israel 
might  depart  from  his  land.  Then  this  choice  of  Israel 
was  due  to  the  oath  given  to  Abraham  and  to  Isaac  and 
to  Jacob. 

The  opening  words  of  the  Tora  of  Moses  contain 
somewhat  of  chiding.  The  lawgiver  there  reminds  Is- 
rael of  their  unrighteousness,  tells  them  that  they  are  "  a 
stiff-necked  people."  Not  so  here.  It  was  no  time  to 
call  up  the  weakness  of  Israel.  They  had  just  emerged 
from  the  fiery  trials  of  the  desert.  They  were  under 
the  potent  power  of  the  theophany  at  Sinai.  The  prom- 
ises that  sustained  them  in  the  desert  were  about  to 
enter  upon  fulfillment.  Every  word  should  be  one  of 
encouragement.  Hence  this  marvelous  leader  simply 
directs  their  minds,  so  far  as  now  the  past  comes  in  re- 
view, to  the  deliverance  from  Egypt  and  the  reasons  for 


24  THE  SINAITIC  TOR  A. 

it,  to  the  fact  that  they  above  all  the  people  of  the  earth 
are  the  chosen  people. 

THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE  ACCORDING  TO  E, 
5^5     Hear,  O  Israel,  Ye  stand  this  day  be- 
fore Jehovah  your  God,  all  the  men  of  Is- 
aa/a  rael,  elders  of  your  tribes  and  officers.    And  he 
hath  chosen  thee  to  be  a  peculiar  people  unto 
20  himself  above  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.    And 
Jehovah  took  you  and  brought  you  forth  out 
3}  of  the  iron  furnace  of  Egypt  with  signs  and 
2^  wonders  and  an  outstretched  arm  to  be  a  peo- 
^Iple  of  inheritance  unto  him  as  at  this  day  ;  for 
i^Jehovah  thy   God  loved  thee.     And  Jehovah 
thy  God  hath  kept  the  covenant  and  the  mercy 
which  he  sware  unto  thy  fathers. 

Every  fact  is  found  in  E  which  we  observed  to  be 
recorded  in  J.  The  people  are  to  be  a  peculiar  people ; 
they  were  delivered  from  Egypt  by  Jehovah's  power. 
All  was  done  because  Jehovah  loved  Israel  and  had 
given  oath  to  their  fathers.  Yet  these  facts  are  told 
with  striking  stylistic  differences,  evidencing  some  kind 
of  independence. 

The  next  step  in  the  historical  survey,  which  opens 
this  Book  of  the  Law,  is  to  refer  to  the  great  facts  of 
the  history  of  Israel.  Some  of  these  events  were  be- 
yond the  ken  of  most  of  the  hearers.  Yet  they  were  so 
near  that  they  were  known  to  the  community  through 
the  words  spoken  to  sons  by  fathers  who  had  dwelt  in 
Egypt,  endured  its  rigorous  bondage,  and  witnessed  the 
wonderful  deliverance.  Hence  it  could  be  said  that  all 
Israel  knew  this  early  history.  Other  events  had  been 
seen  by  the  hearers  themselves,  especially  the  strange 
experience  of  guidance  and  support  which  they  had  re- 


THE  HISTORICAL.  INTRODUCTION.  25 

ceived  in  the  desert,  and  also  that  marvelous  occur- 
rence, when  **the  earth  opened  her  mouth  and  swal- 
lowed'*  all  the  members  of  one  family  and  all  their  sub- 
stance. They  had  all  seen  the  theophany  at  Sinai,  when 
Jehovah  spake  unto  Israel.  These  are  the  facts  which 
Moses  recalls  in  the  next  section. 

DEEDS  OF  JEHOVAH  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

\  ^J      And  ye  know  his  greatness  and  his  miracles 
and  his  acts,  which  he  did  unto  Pharaoh,  king 

il  of  Egypt,  and  all  his  land.  And  Jehovah  thy 
God  brought  thee  out  thence  through  a  mighty 

"hand  and  an  outstretched  arm.  And  what  he 
did  unto  the  army  of  Egypt,  unto  their  horses 
and  to  their  chariots,  how  he  made  the  waters 
of  the  Red  Sea  to  overflow  them  as  they  pur- 
sued after  you,  and  Jehovah  destroyed  them. 

"And  what  he  did  unto  Dathan  and  Abiram, 
how  the  earth  opened   her   mouth   and   swal- 

"  lowed  them  up  and   their   households.      And 

i^what  he   did  unto   you  in   the  wilderness,   he 

5  5  who    led    thee    through    that    great    waterless 

wilderness.     Thy  raiment  waxed  not  old  upon 

4  thee,  neither  did  thy  foot  swell.     And  Jeho- 

^JvAH  talked  with  YOU  face  to  face  in  the 
mount  out  of  the  midst  of  fire  in   the   day  of 

J2the  assembly.  Behold,  the  heavens  and  the 
heaven  of  the  heavens  is  Jehovah's  thy  God; 
and  the  earth  also,  with  all  that  is  therein. 

The  references  to  the  historic  past  of  Israel  are  mas- 
ter strokes  of  powerful  appeal.  They  are  Egypt  and  de- 
liverance, the  Red  Sea  and  the  overthrow  of  the  army 
of  Pharaoh,  rebellion  in  the  desert  and  the  ingulfing  of 
the  unfaithful,  a  weary  traversing  of  the  wilderness  and 


26  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

the  ever-present  evidence  of  the  presence  of  Jehovah. 
These  were  the  great  events  of  the  national  Hfe,  which 
Moses  brings  to  mind  here.  All  is  climaxed  in  the  final 
allusion  to  the  wonderful  theophany  at  Sinai  only  re- 
cently witnessed  by  Israel.  This  brief  historical  survey 
covers  the  whole  of  their  national  existence.  Its  only 
purpose  is  to  impress  upon  Israel  that  they  were  a  cho- 
sen people,  above  all  the  nations  of  the  earth.  The 
experience  at  Kadesh  is  omitted  in  this  review ;  it 
was  not  a  time  to  emphasize  the  unbelief  of  the  nation 
which  had  as  its  punishment  the  years  of  wandering. 
Nor  is  the  faithlessness  of  Israel  at  all  alluded  to  in 
this  historical  review,  but  only  the  faithfulness  of  Jeho- 
vah. In  this  respect  the  historical  introduction  of  the 
Tora  of  Moses  stands  in  boldest  contrast  with  what  we 
have  recorded  in  this  place. 

DEEDS  OF  JEHOVAH  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

il  And  remember  well  what  Jehovah  thy  God 
"did  unto  Pharaoh  and  all  Egypt,  the  chastise- 
ments of  Jehovah  your  God,  his  mighty  hand 
*3  and  his  outstretched  arm  in  the  midst  of  Egypt. 

Eat  And    Jehovah    overthrew    the    Egyptians     in 

E  23  the   midst    of   the   sea,   all    Pharaoh's    horses, 

"  his  chariots  and  his  horsemen.     And  your  eyes 

have  seen  all  the  great  acts  of  Jehovah  which 

^6  he  has  done.     What  he  did  unto   the  sons 

Njoof  Eliab,  the  son  of  Reuben,  then  the  earth 
"opened  up  her  mouth  and  swallowed  them  and 
their  tents  and  all  their  substance  that  was  in 
'^  their  possession  in  the  midst  of  all  Israel.  And 
g  I  led  you  in  the  wilderness,  and  Jehovah  thy 
15  God,  who  brought  thee  forth  water  out  of  the 

l^il  flinty  rock,  knew  thy  walkings  through   that 


THE  HISTORICAL,  INTRODUCTION.  2*] 

great  and  terrible  desert  where  there  were 
^  fiery  serpents  and  scorpions  and  drought.  Ye 
^  ate  no  bread,  and  ye  drank  no  strong  drink,  your 

clothes  waxed  not  old,  and  thy  shoe  is  not  wax- 
|en  old  upon  thy  foot.     And  Jehovah  talked 

WITH  YOU  HERE  in  the  mount  out  of  the  midst 
*2, 2?of  fire.     And  Jehovah  is  thy  God,  he  is  thy 

praise,  that  hath  done  for  thee  these  great  and 

terrible  things  which  thine  eyes  have  seen. 

The  essential  agreement  in  this  passage  of  the  two 
copies  is  at  once  apparent.  And  here,  as  in  J,  the  ring 
of  the  words  is  such  as  actual  occurrences  would  in- 
spire. They  sound  not  as  *'the  idealization  of  the  past 
history  of  a  nation,"  wrought  out  by  the  pondering  of 
some  persons  under  religious  zeal  over  traditions  that 
had  come  down  the  centuries,  touching  them  by  the 
sense  of  marvel  such  as  the  imagination  of  a  crude  peo- 
ple only  delight  in.  Again,  observe  in  the  words  either 
of  J  or  E  the  depicting  Jehovah  as  the  God  of  Israel. 
For  forty  years  Israel  had  been  experiencing  his  care 
and  help.  Striking  illustrations  of  his  presence  among 
them  were  known  to  those  who  were  listening  when  this 
law  of  Jehovah  was  declared.  A  sense  of  reality  per- 
meates the  record.  Now  turn  to  the  modern  interpre- 
tation of  this  record  by  higher  critics — one  at  least, 
Budde,  in  his  *' Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile."  He 
says :  **  If  Israel  became  converted  to  the  new  God  (the 
God  of  the  Kenites),  Yahweh,  it  took  this  step  because 
it  gave  credence  to  Moses's  preaching  that  this  God  was 
able  and  willing  to  grant  its  wish.  The  conviction  had 
ripened  in  Moses's  own  bosom.  It  had  unfolded  itself 
to  him  in  the  solitude  of  the  steppe,  among  the  flocks, 
where  Mohammed  also  received  his  revelations.     It  is 


28  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

of  no  real  consequence  to  determine  by  what  means 
Moses  received  the  revelations  v^rhich  transformed  him 
into  the  enthusiastic  apostle  of  this  God  of  the  mountain 
and  desert.  But  we  have  every  reason  to  assume  that 
the  oral  tradition  of  centuries  has  given  here  as  else- 
where a  more  and  more  objective  character  to  experi- 
ence. Enough  that  Moses  and  the  people  which  be- 
lieved him  attributed  to  the  mountain  God  of  Sinai  the 
power  to  perform  great  and  warlike  deeds,  and  at  the 
same  time  the  will  to  make  use  of  this  power  in  Israel's 
behalf.  And  they  were  not  mistaken;  for  under  his 
standard  the  deliverance  from  the  Egyptian  yoke  was 
actually  accomplished."  (*' Religion  of  Israel  to  the 
Exile,"  p.  25.)  This  mode  of  dealing  with  facts  is  a 
romancing  far  more  than  ever  people  were  known  to  do 
with  the  great  traditions  of  their  national  life.  Not  the 
preaching  of  Moses  made  Israel  believe.  The  record 
affirms  that  Israel  had  no  faith  in  the  words  of  Moses. 
How  could  they  believe?  After  Moses  had  wrought 
before  Pharaoh  the  signs  which  Jehovah  commanded 
him,  Egypt's  king  added  to  Israel's  hardships,  and  their 
increased  burdens  wrought  sad  havoc  with  the  begin- 
nings of  that  faith  which  Israel  had  at  first  given  to 
Moses  because  of  his  words  and  the  signs  which  he  dis- 
played before  the  elders  and  the  people.  Verily,  if  Je- 
hovah is  whittled  down  to  the  ghostly  skeleton  which 
these  words  of  Budde  make,  the  God  of  Israel  is  a 
myth,  and  reverence  for  him  is  unworthy  of  a  rational 
mind. 

The  historical  introduction  to  the  Sinaitic  Tora  closes 
with  a  prophetic  utterance.  The  first  paragraph  of  this 
historical  survey  was  a  look  at  Israel  as  they  were  when 
standing  before  the  speaker.     The  people  were  a  chosen 


THE  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  29 

people.  The  second  paragraph  was  a  retrospect,  call- 
ing to  mind  the  deliverance  and  guidance  of  this  chosen 
people  by  Jehovah.  The  future  alone  remained  to  be 
considered.  As  yet  no  significant  victory  had  crowned 
the  path  of  Israel  since  they  had  journeyed  from  Horeb 
some  forty  years  before.  Yet  in  their  darkest  hours 
there  remained  to  them  the  promises  of  Jehovah.  Israel 
would  enter  some  time  into  the  land  which  God  swore 
unto  their  fathers  to  give  them.  The  hour  for  the  move- 
ment forward  had  come.  Long  delayed,  it  at  last  had 
arrived.  The  expectation  of  Israel,  founded  upon  the 
promises  of  God,  brings  to  a  close  the  historical  intro- 
duction to  the  Sinaitic  law. 

THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE  ACCORDING  TO  /. 
f      And  ye  shall  go   in   and   possess    the  land 
"  which  Jehovah  sware  unto  your  fathers  to  give 
them  and  their  seed,  a  land  that  floweth  with 
^milk  and  honey.     And  Jehovah  will  drive  out 
the  nations  from  before  you,  and  ye  shall  pos- 
sess greater  nations  and  mightier  than  your- 
iJ  J  selves.     Thou  shalt  not  be  afraid  of  them  ;  for 
j;  Jehovah  thy  God  is  among  you,  the  God  of 


7  7 

21,23 


gods,  a  mighty  God,  and  terrible  ;  and  he  shall 


deliver  them  into  thy  hands,  and  thou  shalt  de- 
JJstroy  them  with   a  mighty  destruction.     And 
ye  shall  possess  it  and  dwell  therein. 

Here  is  an  example  of  faith.  A  leader  sees  victory 
for  his  people  over  nations  mightier  and  greater  than 
they  themselves.  Yet  these  words  are  not  those  of  an 
enthusiast ;  rather  they  express  a  conviction  resting  upon 
evidence  from  the  past.  The  land  before  Israel  is  the 
land  of  promise.  The  host  of  Israel  will  go  forward 
with  faith  in  the  promise.     We  must  not  fail  to  notice 


30  THE  SINAITIC  TOR  A. 

the  appropriateness  of  these  words  of  Moses  to  Israel  in 
view  of  the  environment  at  the  time. 

THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

if      Thou  shalt  go  in  and  possess  the  good  land, 

15  which  Jehovah  sware  unto  thy  fathers,  a  land 

23  that  floweth  with  milk  and  honey.     And  Jeho- 

J  i^vah  thy  God  will  be  among  you,  to  cast  out 

all  thine  enemies  before  thee  as  Jehovah  hath 
g|  spoken,  to  drive  out  nations  before  thee  greater 

and  mightier  than  thou,  to  bring  thee  in,  to  give 
i?thee  their  land   for  an  inheritance.     If  thou 

shalt  say  in  thine  heart,  These  nations  are  more 

21  than  I,  how  can  I  dispossess  them?  still  thou 

J?  shalt  not  be  affrighted  at  them ;  for  Jehovah 

your  God  is  Lord  of  lords,  a  great  God,  mighty 
a^and  terrible,  and  he  shall  deliver  their  kings 

into  thy  hand,  and  thou  shalt  destroy  them  and 
n  their  name  from  under  heaven.    And  thou  shalt 

possess  it  and  dwell  therein. 

The  verbal  differences  in  the  copies  will  some  day  fur- 
nish a  most  interesting  subject  of  study.  But  our  lim- 
its will  not  permit  attention  to  be  drawn  to  them.  Yet 
identity  in  fact  and  variety  in  the  mode  of  expression 
on  the  part  of  two  witnesses  constitute  the  surest  evi- 
dence before  the  bar  of  reason. 

We  close  in  this  chapter  the  historical  survey  to  the 
Sinaitic  Tora.  There  are  proffered  by  reconstructive 
criticism  two  copies  of  it,  alike  as  to  fact,  different  as  to 
expression.  The  contents  of  this  introduction  are  most 
fitting  for  the  occasion  when  this  law  was  uttered.  Is- 
rael had  but  recently  emerged  from  the  desert,  and  were 
about  to  begin  the  march  toward  Canaan.  As  a  piece 
of  writing  either  copy  is  a  masterpiece  of  composition ; 


THE   HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION.  3I 

and  if  reference  be  made  to  the  Tora  of  Moses,  it  will 
be  noticed  that  in  that  writing  and  in  this  the  same  im- 
perial mind  is  at  work.  The  great  lawgiver  is  at  him- 
self on  both  occasions. 

Reconstructive  criticism  has  found  in  Deut.  i.-xi. 
one  historical  introduction  for  its  Tora  of  Moses,  and 
another  for  its  Sinaitic  Tora;  also  within  the  same 
limits  it  has  found  two  copies  of  each  introduction. 
Higher  criticism  finds  in  these  early  chapters  the  evi- 
dence of  one  or  two  authors  distinct  from  the  author  of 
Deut.  xii.-xxvi.  Moreover,  these  first  nine  chapters 
present  such  incongruities  that  higher  critics  are  quite 
in  despair  to  account  for  the  lack  of  sequence  in  events 
and  the  senseless  repetitions  on  any  theory  of  respect- 
able authorship  or  sensible  redaction.  The  worth  of 
any  critical  school  must  of  course  be  known  by  its 
fruits. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE   COMMANDMENTS   OF  JEHOVAH. 

The  trend  of  higher  criticism  has  been  toward  dis- 
covering decalogues  in  Exodus-Numbers.     The  aim  of 
all  this  endeavor  has  been  to  find  some  kind  of  evolu- 
tion in  the  thought  of  Israel  which  would  at  last  culmi- 
nate in  the  Decalogue  as  we  find  it  in  Exodus  and  in 
Deuteronomy.     The  theories  of  the  higher  critics  re- 
quire that  this  Decalogue  be  evolved  in  Israel  by  labori- 
ous experimentation  in  moral  and  religious  endeavors. 
Budde  speaks  in  reference  to  the  Decalogue  as  follows : 
**But  many  scholars,   while   relinquishing   everything 
else,  have  tried  to  save  the  Ten  Commandments,  the 
'Mosaic'  moral  law,  for  these  oldest  times.     Now,  the 
Ten  Commandments  base  all  their  demands  on  the  na- 
ture of  the  God  of  Israel.     If,  then,  they  really  did 
come  into  existence  from  this  period,  it  appears  that 
there  existed,  even  in  the  earliest  times,  a  conception 
of  God  so  sublime  that  hardly  anything  could  remain 
for  the  prophets  to  do.     This  of  itself  should  suffice  to 
show  the  impossibility  of  the  Mosaic  origin  of  the  Ten 
Commandments."     ("The  Religion   of   Israel  to  the 
Exile,"  p.  32.)    We  say  in  reply,  that  this  sublime  con- 
ception of  God  was  given  by  Moses  in  the  Decalogue, 
and  without  its  presence  in  Israel  the  history  of  the  peo- 
ple would  have  no  more  world-wide  signification  than 
the  history  of   any  other  ancient  nation  which   made 
more  or  less  improvement  upon  the  fetich  nature  wor- 
ship prevalent  in  those  far-off  days.     The  work  of  the 
prophets  was  simply  to  enforce  this  sublime  conception 
of  God,  which  the  Decalogue  imparted,  to  guard  its 

(32) 


THE  COMMANDMENTS  OF  JEHOVAH.    "  33 

purity,  to  show  its  thousand-fold  ramifications.  The  ad- 
ditions to  the  Decalogue,  as  found  in  Exodus  and  Deuter- 
onomy, are  due  to  the  same  causes  as  produced  the  in- 
termingling of  different  toras  in  these  books  of  Scrip- 
ture. The  Sinaitic  statement  of  the  commandments  va- 
ries from  that  given  in  the  Tora  of  Moses,  but  only  as  the 
half-blown  flower  differs  from  the  gorgeous  beauty  of 
the  perfected  blossom. 

In  the  Sinaitic  Tora  the  commandments  are  intro- 
duced by  an  introductory  paragraph. 

TRANSITIONAL  PARAGRAPH  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
^      Thou  shalt  keep  his  commandments  which 
i|I  command  thee  this  day,  and  thou   shalt  not 
turn    aside   from    any   of    the   words  which   I 
command  thee  to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left, 
,§^  1^  that   it  might   be  well  with    thee  in  the  land 
10, 13  whither  thou  shalt  go  to  possess  which  Jeho- 
vah sware  unto  thy  fathers  to  give  thee. 

The  paragraph  echoes  what  goes  before  in  the  his- 
torical survey.  The  promised  land  is  ahead  of  Israel, 
only  as  the  commandments  on  Israel's  part  were  ob- 
served. Only  as  obedience  to  them  was  maintained 
could  Israel  hope  to  retain  the  love  of  Jehovah  and  en- 
ter into  the  promise. 

TRANSITIONAL  PARAGRAPH  ACCORDING  TO  B, 


5 

32 


Ye  shall  observe  to  do  therefore  as  Jehovah 

5^32  your  God  hath  commanded  you  this  day.     Ye 

shall  not  turn  aside  to  the  right  hand  or  the  left. 

3I  Ye  shall  walk  in  all  the  ways  which  Jehovah 

{your  God  commandeth  you,  that  ye  may  live 

and  go  in  and  possess  the  land  which  Jehovah 

God  of  your  fathers  giveth  you. 

3 


34  THE  SINAITIC   TORA. 

We  notice  that  the  copy  of  E  gives  preference  to  the 
plural  of  the  second  person,  while  that  of  J  prefers  the 
singular  form.     Often  does  this  peculiarity  appear. 

The  Decalogue,  as  recorded  in  the  Sinaitic  law,  fol- 
lows after  this  transitional  paragraph.  They  are  ten  short 
sentences.  They  are  the  basis  of  the  code  which  fol- 
lows, and  naturally  separate  themselves  into  two  groups, 
one  relating  to  God  and  the  other  relating  to  man. 

FIRST  TABLE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
I. 

iS      Thou  shalt  fear  Jehovah  thy  God,  and  serve 
him,  and  swear  by  his  name. 

II. 

}5      And  ye  shall  love  the  stranger. 

III. 
l'}     Ye  shall  make  no  idols. 


IV. 

Lja     Ye  shall  not  swear  by  my  name  falsely. 

v. 

LaS     Ye   shall   keep  my  sabbaths  and   reverence 
my  sanctuary. 

Our  limits  in  this  volume  will  exclude  any  extended 
comparison  between  this  early  tora  and  the  tora  deliv- 
ered in  the  plains  of  Moab  near  the  Jordan.  But  it  will 
be  suggestive  to  compare  the  separate  commands  in  the 
first  table  of  the  two  toras,  that  the  reader  may  have 
opportunity  to  discern  the  gradual  perfecting  in  modes 
of  expression  of  that  revelation  which  Moses  media- 
ted to  Israel.  The  first  command  in  the  Mosaic  Tora 
is,  **Thou  shalt  love  Jehovah  thy  God  with  all  thy 


THE  COMMANDMENTS  OF  JEHOVAH.  35 

heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy  might." 
We  readily  acknowledge  the  lofty  conception  of  Jeho- 
vah which  is  given  in  this  command.  All  that  higher 
critics  may  say  of  it  we  indorse,  and  we  will  even  add 
thereto.  It  requires  a  noble  reverence,  a  hearty  service, 
and  unflagging  fidelity  to  God;  for  these  are  essential 
elements  in  love.  But  the  Sinaitic  law  requires  these 
acts  of  affection.  The  second  command  of  the  Mo- 
saic Torais,  **  Thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbor  as  thyself." 
The  phrasing  could  have  meaning  only  when  neigh- 
bors, individual  and  national,  were  actualities.  The  life 
which  Israel  would  enter  upon  when  it  crossed  the  Jor- 
dan would  create  actual  neighborship.  But  at  Sinai  no 
such  condition  was  present.  The  host  of  Israel  was 
migrating;  those  who  came  into  the  camp  were  stran- 
gers. They  were  guests  for  the  day  or  for  the  night. 
Hence,  the  command  of  good  will  to  men  took  the  form, 
'*  Thou  shalt  not  vex  a  stranger."  The  third  command 
of  the  Mosaic  Tora  is,  *'Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods 
before  me."  The  third  in  the  Sinaitic  law  is,  *'  Ye  shall 
make  no  idols  for  yourselves."  Here  one  clearly  sees 
that  the  specific  character  of  the  Sinaitic  command 
pointed  more  directly  to  the  gods  that  were  on  this  side 
of  the  Jordan — gods  of  the  Amorites,  and,  perhaps,  of 
the  Moabites  and  Ammonites.  Other  forms  of  worship 
were  found  on  the  west  side  of  the  Jordan,  and  so  the 
commandment  against  idolatry  is  the  more  general  in 
the  Mosaic  Tora.  The  fourth  commandment  in  the 
Tora  of  Moses  is,  *'Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of 
Jehovah  thy  God  in  vain."  Contrasted  with  the  cor- 
responding one  in  the  Sinaitic  Tora,  we  notice  its  wider 
scope.  The  Sinaitic  commandment  is,  *'Thou  shalt 
not  swear  by  my  name  falsely."    This  is  only  one  mode 


36  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

of  taking  the  holy  name  in  vain.  The  fifth  command 
in  the  Mosaic  Tora  is,  *'  Remember  the  sabbath  day  to 
keep  it  holy."  The  corresponding  one  in  the  Sinaitic 
law  is,  ''Ye  shall  keep  my  sabbaths  and  reverence  my 
sanctuary."  It  is  to  be  recalled  that  at  Sinai  the  sanc- 
tuary was  made  and  setup,  and  also  that  the  ordinances 
for  it  and  its  ritual  were  established.  Here  also  the  sab- 
baths were  ordained.  Naturally,  then,  the  command 
which  respects  worship  would  be  specific.  But  when 
Israel  reached  the  Jordan,  the  community  was  ardent  in 
its  observance  of  the  duties  which  the  sanctuary  re- 
quired from  Israel,  and  needed  no  detailed  statement 
regarding  it ;  and  so  the  command  took  upon  itself  the 
simple  form,  "Remember  the  sabbath  day  to  keep  it 
holy." 

FIRST  TABLE  ACCORDING  TO  E. 
I. 
aS      Thou  shalt  fear  Jehovah  thy  God,  and  serve 
him,  and  swear  by  his  name. 

II. 
J5      Love  the  stranger. 

III. 
l"     Turn  ye  not  unto  idols. 

IV. 

1I2     Ye  shall  not  profane  my  holy  name. 

v. 
l'^      Ye   shall   keep  my  sabbaths  and  reverence 
my  sanctuary. 

The  most  noticeable  differences  in  this  copy  are  found 
in  the  third  and  fourth  commandments.  In  the  fourth 
the  sense  is  not  at  variance  in  the  two  copies;  for  to 


THE  COMMANDMENTS   OF  JEHOVAH.  37 

swear  falsely  by  the  name  of  Jehovah  was  to  profane 
that  name.  The  third  command  in  J  of  the  Sinaitic 
Tora  emphasizes  the  making  of  idols,  while  the  corre- 
sponding E  refers  to  a  turning  aside  unto  them.  Strict 
identity,  however,  would  give  no  evidence  as  to  the 
trustworthiness  of  the  two  copies  any  more  than  one 
copy;  but  variations  of  expressions  and  essential  one- 
ness of  facts  make  a  most  conclusive  confirmation. 

The  second  table  respects  the  obligations  of  man 
to  man.  These  arise  out  of  the  manifold  relations 
which  grow  out  of  a  social  compact  between  individ- 
uals. They  relate  to  the  home  and  those  safeguards 
which  are  enjoined  in  order  to  preserve  it  inviolable; 
to  the  protection  given  to  human  life;  to  matters  of 
truth  and  justice. 

SECOND  TABLE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
VI. 
Ei5      He  who   curseth   his   father   or  his    mother 
shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 

VII. 

L20      Whosoever    lieth    carnally   with    a   woman, 
1. 2?  betrothed  to  an  husband,  their  blood  be  upon 
them. 

VIII. 

N  ?6      The  murderer  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 


IX. 


L  If      Ye  shall  not  steal. 


X. 

lJI      Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in  judgment. 

The  first  three  carry  the  death  penalty.     They  make 
clear  what  ethics  are  most  cherished  in  the  Hebrew 


38  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

economy.  From  Israel  alone  could  come  that  great 
Teacher,  who  gave  us  knowledge  of  the  heavenly  Fa- 
ther, and  taught  us  how  to  pray  unto  him;  for  no  na- 
tion ever  gave  higher  reverence  to  the  sacred  relation 
of  parentage.  And  the  sanctity  of  home  and  the  sa- 
credness  of  human  life,  which  are  evidenced  in  the 
second  table,  are  necessary  forerunners  to  that  system 
of  morals  and  that  lofty  sacrifice  which  are  characteris- 
tic of  Christianity. 

SECOND  TABLE  ACCORDING  TO  E. 
VI. 
L^2  E 16      He  that  curseth  his  father  or  his  mother  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death. 

VII. 

L20      Thou  shalt  not  lie  carnally  with  thy  neigh - 
L2?bor's  wife ;  they  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 

VIII. 

N  55      The  murderer  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 

IX. 

L  J3      Thou  shalt  do  no  robbery. 

X. 

lJs      Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteousness  in  judgment. 

The  time  will  come  when  the  verbal  differences  in  the 
two  toras  will  be  carefully  weighed  by  critics  to  learn 
their  causes,  but  not  to  deny  the  tables  themselves. 
Generally,  it  may  be  said  that  the  commandments  of 
the  Sinaitic  Tora  and  those  of  the  Mosaic  have  relation 
to  the  same  national  economy,  but  only  as  an  earlier 
code  to  a  later. 

There  is  a  hortatory  close  placed  after  the  command- 
ments to  complete  the  section.     Every  emphasis  possi- 


THE  COMMANDMENTS  OF  JEHOVAH.  39 

ble  Moses  placed  upon  this  Decalogue  when  he  an- 
nounced it  to  Israel  at  Sinai.  Nor  is  this  strange,  since 
the  Ten  Commandments  inspire  the  whole  of  the  Sina- 
itic  code. 

EXHORTATION  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

\\  Observe  to  do  and  to  keep  his  command- 
ments which  I  have  commanded  thee,  thou 
and  thy  son  and  thy  son's  son,  all  the  days  of 
E  "  thy  life ;  and  they  shall  be  for  a  sign  for  thee 
upon  thy  hand  and  for  a  memorial  between 
5J  thine  eyes,  that  thou  mayest  live  and  multiply, 
and  thai  Jehovah  thy  God  may  bless  thee  in 
the  land  w^hlther  thou  shalt  go  to  possess,  and 
that  thou  mayest  possess  it. 

The  closing  words  are  impressive.  Moreover,  the 
Mosaic  Tora  worthily  echoes  them.  Certain  it  is,  if 
these  commandments  are  as  signs  upon  the  hands,  that 
no  one  will  lift  the  hand  to  steal  or  to  commit  violence. 
And  if  they  are  as  a  memorial  before  the  eyes,  no  home 
will  be  robbed  of  its  purity,  because  a  look  led  to  lust, 
nor  will  the  heavens  lead  to  astral  worship,  because  the 
eye  saw  these  star-marvels  there  and  men  were  led  to 
believe  them,  in  their  ignorance,  gods. 

EXHORTATION  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

^J      And  ye  shall  keep  all   the   commandments 

E  }J  which  I  command  you ;  and  they  shall  be  for  a 

token  upon  thy  hand  and  for  frontlets  between 

29  thine  eye,  that  Jehovah  thy  God  may  bless  thee 

1  in  all  the  works  which  thou  doest,  and  that  ye 

"  may  live  and  multiply,  and  be  strong  and  go  in 

and  possess  the  land  whither  ye  go  to  possess. 

Reconstructive  criticism  in  this  chapter  restores  the 


4©  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

Sinaitic  Decalogue.  The  group  compasses  the  duties 
which  man  owes  to  his  God  and  to  his  fellows.  The 
several  precepts  enshrine  universal  principles.  In  re- 
gard to  the  second  table,  the  family  could  not  be  built 
up  unless  the  first  three  commands  of  the  table  were 
operative ;  the  civic  community  could  not  abide  unless 
the  fourth  and  fifth  were  observed.  It  may  also  be  said 
of  the  first  table  that  no  religion  could  hold  sway  over 
a  people,  unless  the  principles  involved  in  this  table 
were  more  or  less  in  exercise.  But  alone  of  the  re- 
ligion of  Israel  can  it  be  said  that  its  civic  law  ex- 
cluded forever  any  worship  of  a  god  who  was  not 
Jehovah.  Idolatry  in  Israel  required  disobedience  to 
its  law. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MONOTHEISM  AND  NATIONAL  EXISTENCE. 

In  the  view  of  the  Christian  Church,  the  chief  est  glo- 
ry of  Moses  and  the  prophets  is  that  they  enforce  a 
strictly  monotheistic  faith.  Israel,  while  faithful  to  their 
creed,  believed  in  one  God.  Nothing  is  clearer  than 
that  the  Sinaitic  law  considers  fidelity  to  Jehovah,  this 
one  God,  as  the  only  condition  upon  which  the  national 
existence  of  Israel  depended.  If  they  wished  to  pos- 
sess the  land  of  promise,  they  must  renounce  all  wor- 
ship save  that  of  Jehovah.  In  the  face  of  this  belief  of 
the  Church  and  of  the  express  declarations  of  Scripture, 
we  are  told  by  higher  critics  that  Israel  did  not  hold  in 
its  earliest  history  to  faith  in  one  God.  Budde  says: 
*'It  is,  therefore,  in  the  highest  degree  improbable  that 
Yahweh  demanded  at  Sinai  the  exclusive  veneration  of 
his  own  godhead.  True,  this  is  the  unvarying  tradition 
of  the  Old  Testament  tradition.  It  is  to  this  day  the 
generally  accepted  view,  and  it  is  held  even  by  advanced 
specialists.  But  it  hardly  can  be  maintained."  ("The 
Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile,"  p.  58.) 

The  nature  of  this  school  of  criticism  is  the  wolf  un- 
der the  lamb's  skin.  It  means  destruction  of  that  faith 
in  the  Old  Testament  which  has  been  our  heritage  from 
the  first.  Reconstructive  criticism  affirms  that  a  mono- 
theistic faith  is  required  of  Israel  at  Sinai,  and  that  it  is 
at  Israel's  peril  to  consider  for  a  moment  any  god  other 
than  Jehovah.  Words  cannot  be  ordered  together  which 
would  set  forth  clearer  the  fact  that  the  Sinaitic  law  re- 
quires a  monotheistic  faith  than  the  utterances  which  are 
found  in  this  ancient  document. 

(40 


42  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

The  part  of  the  Sinaitic  law  which  is  contained  in 
this  chapter  treats  of  fidelity  to  Jehovah.  The  worship 
of  him  is  Israel's  life.  Ethnic  ties  bound  this  people, 
which  only  recently  had  issued  from  the  desert,  to  other 
nations.  These  were  not  unknown  to  Israel.  When 
they  marched  northward  to  enter  upon  conquest,  the 
land  of  Edom  was  passed  by;  Moab  and  Ammon  were 
left  unravaged.  Moses  in  his  tora,  delivered  later  in 
the  plains  of  Moab,  said  that  Jehovah  had  commanded 
this  respect  for  kindred  nations.  Wellhausen  affirms  that 
'*Moab,  Ammon,  and  Edom,  Israel's  nearest  kinsfolk, 
were  monotheists  in  precisely  the  same  sense  in  which 
Israel  itself  was."  (Prolegomena,  p.  440.)  Higher 
criticism  is  forced  to  this  view,  holding  as  it  does  to  the 
late  development  of  the  Hebrew  literature.  We  know 
little  or  nothing  of  the  theistic  faith  of  Ammon,  Moab, 
and  Edom  in  that  period  of  which  we  now  treat.  And 
on  the  theory  of  higher  criticism,  we  know  scarcely  any 
more  of  the  faith  of  Israel  while  under  the  leadership 
of  Moses.  It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  the  Christian 
Church  will  accept  this  view  complacently.  Israel's 
faith  in  Jehovah  was  unique.  Nothing  in  the  ancient 
world  had  likeness  to  that  conception  of  God  which 
Moses  promulgated  to  his  people.  And  this  is  the  faith 
of  the  Church,  which  has  had  no  other  basis  than  the 
Old  Testament  Scriptures. 

Higher  criticism  has  compelled  the  abandonment  of 
the  traditional  view  of  the  Pentateuch.  Its  several 
parts  are  not  consistent  literary  productions.  Confu- 
sion is  present  in  almost  every  paragraph  of  these 
Hebrew  writings.  It  is  in  vain  to  deny  this  result  of 
modern  biblical  criticism.  The  scholars  who  through 
marvelous  critical  skill  discovered  this  strange  charac- 


MONOTHEISM  AND    NATIONAL  EXISTENCE.  43 

teristic  of  the  Pentateuch  have  advanced  theories  to 
account  for  these  phenomena.  If  they  are  right  in 
these  their  views,  then  we  should  relinquish  faith  in  the 
historical  veracity  of  the  Pentateuch  and  seek  other  con- 
firmation for  our  noble  faith  in  God.  Reconstructive 
criticism  denies  the  theories  of  higher  criticism  founded 
upon  these  facts  which  it  has  discovered. 

We  are  justified  in  asking  higher  criticism  when  this 
lofty  monotheistic  faith  first  appeared,  which  Israel 
without  question  has  mediated  to  the  world.  Wellhau- 
sen  hesitates  not  to  answer  our  query.  He  says:  **To 
him  (Elijah)  was  it  revealed  that  we  have  not  in  the 
various  departments  of  nature  a  variety  of  forces  wor- 
thy of  our  worship,  but  that  there  exists  over  all  but 
one  Holy  One  and  one  Mighty  One,  who  reveals  him- 
self not  in  nature,  but  in  law,  and  righteousness  in 
the  world  of  man."  (Prolegomena,  p.  462.)  We 
do  not  deny  that  Elijah  held  this  faith  in  the  one  Holy 
One  and  the  one  Mighty  One;  but  we  affirm  that  Mo- 
ses first  announced  this  unique  faith,  and  that  Elijah 
only  revived  it  in  Israel.  An  assertion,  however,  is  no 
proof. 

To  establish,  then,  the  position  of  reconstructive  criti- 
cism, we  propose  to  restore  in  this  chapter  the  section 
in  the  Sinaitic  law  which  deals  with  monotheistic  faith 
and  national  existence.  We  assume,  of  course,  that 
the  Sinaitic  law  is  Mosiac.  If  we  were  to  reproduce 
out  of  what  is  regarded  by  higher  critics  themselves  as 
material  strangely  redacted  a  consistent  and  noble  ex- 
pression of  a  monotheistic  faith,  and  this  utterance  is 
replete  with  the  spirit  that  animated  Israel  at  Sinai,  the 
result  would  be  more  acceptable  than  a  theory  such  as 
higher   criticism  advances,    which   leaves   this   matter 


44  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

Strangely  jumbled  together,  just  as  it  is  found  in  the 
Pentateuch,  and  attributes  it  to  different  authors  whose 
writings  have  been  frequently  redacted.  If,  further- 
more, reconstructive  criticism,  out  of  matter  remaining 
after  this  consistent  expression  of  a  monotheistic  faith 
has  been  extracted,  is  able  to  construct  a  second  ex- 
pression of  this  faith,  confirming  in  every  way  the  first, 
but  in  a  style  varied  and  beautiful,  the  result  will  be 
most  surprising. 

After  setting  forth  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Sina- 
itic  law  treats  of  a  monotheistic  faith.  Jehovah  is  Israel's 
God.  No  truth  could  be  more  evident  to  any  people 
than  this  one  to  Israel.  The  fervor  of  the  amplified 
worship,  which  at  Sinai  was  instituted,  kindled  lofty  en- 
thusiasm in  the  chosen  people;  and  as  they  listened  to 
this  section  of  the  law  concerning  the  one  God,  nothing 
would  have  seemed  to  Israel  so  improbable  as  that  they 
would  forsake  Jehovah  for  other  gods.  But  religious 
enthusiasm  without  religious  character  is  but  a  rope  of 
sand,  a  tie  that  hath  a  seeming  of  promise,  but  breaks 
upon  any  strain. 

FIDELITT  TO  JEHOVAH  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

15  Behold   I  set  before  thee  this  day  life  and 

16  death,  good  and  evil,  in  that  I  command  thee 
to  love  Jehovah  thy  God,  to  walk  in  his  ways, 

i?and  to  keep  his  commandments.  But  if  thine 
heart  turn  away  so  that  thou  wilt  not  hear, 
but  shalt  be  drawn  away  and   worship  other 

^gods,  I  denounce  you  this  day  that  ye  shall 

surely  perish,  and  he  shall  not  prolong  your 

days  upon  the  land  whither  you  go  to  possess 

E  ^Jover  the  Jordan ;  for  I  Jehovah  thy  God  am  a 

jealous  God,  visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers 


MONOTHEISM  AND    NATIONAL   EXISTENCE.  45 

upon   the  children   unto  the   third  and  fourth 
E  ^  generation   of   them  that  hate  me,  and  show- 
iner  thousands  of  mercies  unto  those  that  love 
me  and  keep  my  commandments. 

We  reiterate,  that  language  cannot  be  marshaled  to- 
gether to  enforce  a  strict  monotheism  stronger  and  more 
unequivocating  than  these  words.  The  last  facts  that 
a  man  can  doubt  are  life  and  death.  If  we  know  any- 
thing, we  are  conscious  of  life.  And  death  simply 
awaits  us  all.  Now  for  Israel  as  a  nation,  its  life  de- 
pended upon  love  alone  for  Jehovah.  Death  would 
come  as  soon  as  they  forsook  him.  This  language  is 
of  the  stronsfest  character.  The  land  of  Israel's  dreams 
was  before  them,  that  land  the  promise  of  which  buoyed 
them  up  as  they  wended  their  weary  steps  through  the 
desert.  They  would  possess  it.  A  short  time  hence 
would  bring  them  into  its  boundaries.  But  it  mattered 
not  what  prowess  they  might  manifest  in  the  overthrow 
of  the  inhabitants  of  that  land,  nor  what  might  be  the 
completeness  of  their  destruction;  one  fact  Israel 
must  ever  keep  in  mind,  namely,  that  departure  from 
Jehovah  will  dispossess  them,  and  so  they  should  not 
prolong  their  days  thereon.  One  reason  alone  is  given, 
and  that  is  that  Jehovah  is  a  jealous  God. 

FIDELITT  TO  JEHOVAH  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

%  I  set  before  you  this  day  life  and  death, 
^blessing  and  cursing,  to  the  end  that  thou  may- 
est  love  Jehovah  thy  God  and  obey  his  voice 
and  cleave  unto  him ;  for  he  is  thy  life  and  the 
^8  length  of  thy  days.  But  if  ye  will  not  obey 
the  commandments  of  Jehovah  your  God,  and 
ye  turn  aside  out  of  the  way  which  I  command 
you  this  day,  to  go  after  other  gods  which  ye 


46  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

5J,  26  have  not  known,  and  serve  them,  then  ye 
shall  utterly  perish  from  off  the  land  whither 
ye  go  to  possess  over  Jordan ;  and  ye  shall  not 
prolong  your  days  upon  it,  but  shall  be  utterly 
9  destroyed ;  for  I  Jehovah  thy  God  am  a  jeal- 
ous God,  visiting  the  iniquities  of  the  fathers 
upon  the  children  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
i5  generation  of  them  that  hate  me,  and  showing 
a  thousand  mercies  unto  them  that  love  me 
and  keep  my  commandments. 

There  is  a  touch  of  exquisite  beauty  from  a  literary 
standpoint  in  this  part  of  the  Tora  of  E  where  it  empha- 
sizes how  closely  life  and  death  for  Israel  are  dependent 
upon  fidelity  to  Jehovah  alone.  It  is  found  in  the  words, 
*'For  he  is  thy  life  and  the  length  of  thy  days." 

The  next  provision  in  the  Sinaitic  law  relates  to  the 
attitude  of  Israel  toward  those  who  were  not  members 
of  the  community,  but  simply  strangers,  and  whose 
presence  might  imperil  a  monotheistic  faith.  A  sojourn 
with  any  people  by  one  or  several  is  made  simply 
for  some  matter  of  protection  or  for  gain.  The  per- 
mitting of  foreigners  to  have  a  right  to  stay  awhile  in  a 
nation  is  allowed,  either  because  it  is  a  guest-right 
law  under  which  a  traveler  may  remain  for  a  night, 
or  else  because  there  is  advantage  from  some  com- 
mercial standpoint.  At  the  time  when  Moses  ut- 
tered this  law,  the  principal  motive  would  be  the 
guest-right  law.  But  strangers  were  not  worshipers 
of  Jehovah,  and  they  might  use  the  moments  in  which 
they  sojourned  in  Israel  as  an  opportune  occasion  for 
propagating  their  own  faith.  This  danger  must  be 
warded  off,  and  the  next  section  is  the  provision. 


MONOTHEISM  AND  NATIONAL  EXISTENCE.  47 

GUEST-RIGHT  LA  W  ACCORDING  TO  D. 

e"  Thou  shalt  neither  vex  a  stranger  nor  op- 
N  29  press  him.    Ye  shall  have  one  law  for  him  that 

is  born  among  the  children  of  Israel  and  for  the 
E  21  stranger  that  sojourneth  among  them  ;  for  ye 

were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 

GUEST-RIGHT  LAW  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

£  ^      And  thou  shalt  not  oppress  a  stranger.    One 
N 1^  law    and    one    manner    shall    be  for  you  and 
}5  the  stranger   that    sojourneth  with    you ;    for 
ye  were  strangers  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 

The  copy  of  E  designates  how  far  the  love  for  the 
stranger  is  to  extend :  only  to  food  and  raiment.  The 
stranger  must  not  worship  any  God  but  Jehovah  while 
within  the  bounds  of  the  Israelitish  camp.  This  was  no 
hardship  for  them,  since  it  was  a  custom  in  those  days 
to  render  worship  to  the  god  of  a  people  or  of  a  land. 
Israel  stood  antagonistic  to  this  custom.  Anywhere 
and  everywhere  the  Israelite  must  worship  Jehovah. 
Such  was  his  law. 

Our  contention  with  higher  criticism  is  not  that  this 
school  has  pointed  out  the  incongruities  and  incon- 
sistencies and  illogical  features  of  the  Pentateuch  and 
other  books  of  Scripture.  Indeed,  no  service  could  have 
been  rendered  of  more  worth  to  the  biblical  student 
than  this  one.  Furthermore,  no  victory  was  ever  gained 
over  greater  odds  than  that  which  higher  criticism  has 
won  in  making  it  apparent  that  the  Scriptures  could 
not  have  been  written  in  the  way  and  manner  that  tra- 
dition advocates.  Our  contention  is  that  the  conclu- 
sions of  higher  critics  relative  to  the  sacred  writings 
are  not  founded  on  fact,  but  rest  on  a  theory  which 


4^  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

breaks  down  at  every  point.  One  is  almost  tempted  to 
believe  that  a  cardinal  rule  of  investigation  among  high- 
er critics  is  to  negate  every  faith  of  the  Christian  world 
respecting  the  Scriptures  and  to  set  to  work  to  prove 
the  same.  Israel  was  monotheistic,  and  its  Sinaitic  law 
required  the  most  uncompromising  monotheism.  Yet 
Budde  says:  "But  in  any  case,  Yahwism  could  not 
remain  Israel's  only  worship.  In  antiquity  every  land 
is  animated  by  a  god  and  in  a  god's  possession.  If  the 
land  consists  of  waste  and  uninhabited  stretches,  spirits 
and  demons  are  looked  for  there,  erratic,  malevolent 
beings,  doubly  feared  because  no  one  knows  how  they 
should  be  met,  nor  what  they  may  demand  of  him  who 
sets  foot  upon  their  territory.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
it  be  a  question  of  inhabited  land,  of  cultivated  soil, 
men  know  quite  well,  or  can  at  least  find  out,  what  the 
characteristics  of  its  gods  are,  and  by  what  means  their 
favor  may  be  secured.  Accordingly,  whoever  comes 
into  a  foreign  land  and  wishes  to  take  up  his  abode 
there  must  serve  the  god  or  gods  of  this  land.''  ('*  Re- 
ligion of  Israel  to  the  Exile,"  p.  53-)  Such  a  philosophy 
of  the  religious  life  of  nations  may  satisfy  the  demands 
of  the  facts  which  we  may  possess  of  other  nations 
(which,  however,  we  greatly  doubt);  but  every  fact  in 
the  history  of  Israel  during  the  Mosaic  period  and  what 
immediately  follows  antagonizes  this  Germanistic  gen- 
eralization. 

The  Sinaitic  law  has  in  it  a  paragraph  concerning 
those  people  whose  land  Israel  was  to  possess.  They 
were  idolaters.  Now  the  attitude  of  Israel  toward 
them  should  be  one  of  unyielding  severity,  if  a  mono- 
theistic creed  is  to  be  retained  by  Israel.  But  if  Budde 
be  right,  then  Israel  will  make  some  concessions;  but 


MONOTHEISM  AND  NATIONAL  EXISTENCE.  49 

the   fact  is,  however,  that  the  Sinaitic  Tora  requires 
Israel  to  destroy  idolatry  in  their  land. 

CONCERNING  IDOLATRT  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

E  ^S      And  God  spake  all  these  words,  say- 

E  ij  ING :  Observe  that  which  I  command  thee  this 

day,  and  behold  I  will  drive  out  the  Amorite 

and    the    Canaanite    and    the   Hivite   and    the 

Hittite   and   the    Perizzite    and    the   Jebusite. 

e  32  Thou  shalt  make  no  covenant  with  them  nor 

E  24  E 13  with  their  gods,  nor  shalt  thou  serve  them  ;  but 

ye  shall  destroy  their  altars,  break  down  their 

L  44  images,  and  cut  down  their  groves.     And  ye 

shall  be  holy. 

There  is  no  compromise  in  J  on  the  part  of  Israel. 
All  images  are  to  be  destroyed. 

CONCERNING  IDOLATRY  ACCORDING  TO  E. 
E  ^J      And  God  spake  all  these  words,  say- 
^1  ING :  Only  if  thou  carefully  hearken  unto  the 
voice  of  Jehovah  thy  God  to  observe  to  do  all 
these  commandments  which  I  command  thee 
E  ^2  this  day,  will  I  drive  out  the  Canaanite  and  the 
Amorite   and    the    Hittite    and    the    Perizzite 
\  and  the  Hivite  and  the  Jebusite.     Thou  shalt 
make  no  covenant  with  them,  nor  show  them 
E  1'^  24  mercy,  nor  do  after  their  works.   Thou  shalt  not 
bow  down  to  their  gods,  but  thou  shalt  quite 
break  down  their  images  and  utterly  overthrow 
E  ^2  them.     And  ye    shall    utterly  destroy  all    the 
places  where  these  nations,  which  ye  shall  pos- 
sess, served  their  gods,  upon  the  high  moun- 
tains and  upon  the  hills  and  under  every  green 
L  5^  tree.     And  ye  shall  be  holy. 

There  is  a  graphic  character  in  the  Tora  of  E  which 
4 


50  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

is  very  attractive  from  a  critical  standpoint.  Its  writer 
speaks  of  **high  mountains,  green  trees,"  in  his  refer- 
ence to  the  places  where  idolaters  worshiped.  But  the 
spirit  of  the  enactment  toward  idolatry  is  the  same  as 
that  which  we  met  in  J. 

Israel  had  settled  down  just  before  the  law  was  an- 
nounced at  Sinai.  Moses  knew  that  danger  would  beset 
Israel  from  the  influence  of  the  worship  which  was  of- 
fered by  the  Amalekites  to  their  gods.  The  great  lead- 
er always  guards  against  the  immediate  danger.  The 
Amalekites  were  the  people  of  Moloch.  They  wor- 
shiped him  through  some  form  of  human  sacrifice. 
Some  day  we  may  learn  what  were  the  modes  of  wor- 
ship which  they  practiced  in  the  fastnesses  of  the  Sina- 
itic  peninsula.  Light  may  yet  come  to  us  on  this  sub- 
ject. Be  this  as  it  may,  the  only  god  mentioned  in  the 
Sinaitic  law  besides  Jehovah  is  the  god  Moloch.  Warn- 
ing is  given  Israel  not  to  *'pass  their  seed  through  the 
fire  to  Moloch."  The  fact,  not  its  explanation,  is  all 
we  have  to  do  with  at  present.  The  next  subject  treated 
of  in  the  Sinaitic  law  is  idolatry.  The  experience  at 
Horeb  is  reflected  in  this  provision.  The  image  of 
gold,  made  by  Israel  while  Moses  was  in  the  mount, 
was  by  no  means  a  dim  memory  with  the  hearers  of 
this  Sinaitic  law. 

CONCERNING  APOSTASY  ACCORDING  TO  J, 

^2      Thou  shalt  not  set  thee  up  an  image,  which 

E  23  Jehovah  thy  God  hateth,  saying :  Ye  shall  not 

make  with  me  gods  of  silver  nor  gods  of  gold. 

^1  18  And  take  heed  lest  there  be  among  you   man 

or  woman  or  family  whose  heart  turneth  away 

L  ^5  from  Jehovah  thy  God  to  commit  whoredom 


MONOTHEISM  AND  NATIONAL  EXISTENCE.  5 1 

L  ^  with  Moloch.     Then  I  will  set  my  face  against 
that  soul  and  w^ill  cut  him  off  from  among  his 
L  21  people.     And   thou   shalt  not  let  any  of    thy 
L  '5  seed  pass  through  to  Moloch,  then  I  will  set 
my  face  against  that  man  and  against  his  fami- 
ly, and  will  cut  him  off  from  among  his  people  ; 
L,  ^3  because  he  hath  given  his  seed  unto  Moloch. 
L  27  A  man  or  a  woman  that  hath  a  familiar  spirit 
L^ftOr   that   is   a    wizard,    and    all    that     goeth    a 
L  ^2  whoring    after    him,   the    people  of    the   land 
L  2?  shall  stone  them  with  stones. 

Antiquarian  research  must  establish  just  what  was 
the  form  of  worship  which  is  here  alluded  to  by  Moses 
in  his  reference  to  Moloch.  Generally  it  may  be  said 
that  it  was  some  kind  of  idolatry,  and  a  specially  se- 
ductive one.  Perhaps  the  history  of  the  northern  Ama- 
lekites  may  yet  cast  some  light  upon  the  subject.  The 
attitude  of  the  law  toward  this  species  of  false  worship 
is  most  severe.  An  Israelite  who  should  adopt  it  must 
perish.  Jehovah  will  cut  him  off.  The  section  closes 
with  the  penalty  attached  to  divination.  The  diviner 
and  all  his  followers  shall  be  stoned  to  death.  No  fea- 
ture in  this  Sinaitic  law  is  more  noticeable  than  the 
anxious  care  of  the  great  lawgiver  to  guard  Israel  from 
every  influence  which  might  lead  them  to  turn  aside 
unto  any  other  god. 

CONCERNING  APOSTASY  ACCORDING  TO  E. 
E  23      Ye  shall  not  make  with  me  a  graven  image 
L  ^f  nor  rear  you  up  a  standing  image  nor  set  you 
up  an  image  of  stone  in  your  land  to  bow  down 
L.  ^2  unto  it.     And  whosoever  of  the  children  of  Is- 
rael or  the  strangfer  that  dwelleth  in  Israel  that 
giveth  his  seed  to  Moloch,  he  shall  surely  be  put 


52  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

L  '2  to  death.  And  if  the  people  of  the  land  do  any- 
ways hide  that  man  which  giveth  his  seed  to  Mo- 

L  ^3  loch  and  kill  him  not,  then  I  will  set  my  face 
against  that  man  to  cut  him  off  from  among  his 

E  18  people.     Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live. 

L  ^g  And  the  soul  that  turneth  after  such  as  have  fa- 
miliar spirits,  and  after  wizards  to  go  a  whoring 

L  2^  after  them,  they  shall  stone  them  with  stones. 

The  provisions  of  the  two  copies  are  essentially  the 
same  so  far  as  they  refer  to  idolatry.  Nothing  could  be 
more  uncompromising  than  the  law  in  its  attitude  of  in- 
tolerance to  any  and  every  form  of  idolatry.  One  clear 
truth  comes  to  the  front  upon  the  perusal  of  this  chap- 
ter, namely,  that  in  the  view  of  the  Sinaitic  law  Israel 
alone  could  exist  among  the  nations  by  keeping  itself 
separate  from  idolatry.  Obedience  to  the  law  was  life 
for  Israel,  and  this  obedience  compelled  an  abhorrence 
of  every  form  of  worship  that  recognized  any  God  save 
Jehovah. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

THE  STATUTES  RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS. 

The  fifth  commandment  of  the  Decalogue,  as  it  was 
given  at  Sinai,  is,  **Ye  shall  keep  my  sabbaths  and  rev- 
erence my  sanctuary."  The  section  of  the  Sinaitic 
Tora  which  is  treated  of  in  this  chapter  respects  the 
first  part  of  this  precept.  The  people  had  sojourned 
less  than  a  year  in  the  desert,  leading  their  flocks  from 
place  to  place  to  secure  a  scanty  pasturage.  The  man- 
na of  the  desert  had  given  the  people  their  sustenance 
for  the  most  part.  Israel  was  taught  this  tora  after  they 
had  completed  the  desert  sojourn  and  thirty-eight  years 
before  they  began  their  march  northward  in  order  to 
make  conquest  of  the  land  of  promise.  The  provisions 
in  it  must  not  ignore  Horeb,  and  must  not  be  blind  to  the 
requirements  of  the  new  mode  of  life  into  which  Israel 
would  soon  enter.  This  nomadic  people  were  to  become 
Bedouins,  inhabiting  the  mountain  regions  and  valleys 
where  Amalek  had  roamed.  At  the  time  this  tora  was 
announced  not  a  battle  had  been  fought,  not  a  victory 
won  except  over  the  Amalekites. 

The  sabbath  is  the  first  sacred  institution  mentioned 
in  the  Sinaitic  Tora.  Higher  criticism  regards  this  sa- 
cred day  as  a  foreign  element  taken  into  the  *'Yahweh 
religion  of  Israel."  Budde  thus  accounts  for  the  cus- 
tom of  keeping  this  day  in  Israel:  "  There  can  be  little 
doubt,  to  be  sure,  that  the  seven-day  week  goes  back 
to  number  seven  of  the  planets  of  antiquity,  namely. 
Sun,  Moon,  Mars,  Mercury,  Jupiter,  Venus,  and  Sat- 
urn (to  give  their  Roman  names).  But  no  valid  rea- 
sons have  thus  far  been  found  for  the  celebration  of 

(53) 


54  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

the  seventh  day  in  preference  to  any  other.  It  may  be 
that  the  occasional  specification,  in  Babylon,  of  the 
seventh,  fourteenth,  twenty-first,  and  twenty-eighth  days 
of  the  month  led  in  the  long  run  to  the  giving  of  cer- 
tain prominence  to  the  seventh  day  as  such.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  designation  of  certain  days  as  sabattu, 
which  were  looked  upon  as  dies  fiefasti^  on  which  par- 
ticular forms  of  activity  were  avoided,  may  have  given 
occasion  to  the  celebration  of  this  day  by  complete 
rest,  while  its  sinister  significance  gradually  died  away." 
(Budde,  ''The  Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile,"  p.  67.) 
Every  tradition  recorded  in  the  records  of  Israel  con- 
cerning the  sabbath  and  its  origin  is  contravened  by 
this  utterance  of  Budde.  Yet  it  is  to  be  kept  in  mind 
that  this  writer  only  offers  his  explanation  as  ''  a  may- 
be," a  theory  which  has  at  least  the  merit  of  denying 
what  has  been  held  by  Jew  and  Christian  alike  for  cen- 
turies. All  we  affirm  is  that  the  Mosaic  Tora  assumes 
the  sabbath  as  a  well-known  and  ancient  tradition;  and 
also  the  Sinaitic  Tora,  older  by  a  few  years,  does  the 
same.  Babylon  in  that  time  was  unborn  among  the 
nations.  A  theory,  *'a  maybe,"  has  breath  only  so 
long  as  it  remains  unshaken.  Another  theory  account- 
ing for  a  certain  usage  or  custom,  based  on  the  same 
facts,  and  doing  so  in  a  more  acceptable  and  reasona- 
ble way,  is  the  death-knell  for  the  earlier  one.  A  tra- 
dition, especially  one  persistent  for  centuries,  must  have 
convincing  force,  unless  it  contains  elements  on  the 
face  altogether  improbable.  The  theory,  then,  of  the 
origin  of  the  sabbath,  proffered  by  higher  criticism, 
should  be  simply  a  something  to  be  considered,  but 
should  have  no  power  to  overthrow  ancient  traditions, 
until  the  theory  is  indubitably  established. 


RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS.        55 

We  will  now  present  the  statute  respecting  the  sab- 
bath day  as  recorded  in  the  copy  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora, 
which  we  have  designated  by  J. 

THE  SABBATH  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

E  21      Six  days  shalt  thou  work.     But  the  seventh 

14  day  thou  shalt  rest,  and  thine  ox  and  thine  ass. 

L  31 L  ^6  It  is   a  sabbath  of  rest  for  you,  for  thee  and 

for  thy  servant,  and  for  thy  maid  and  for  thy 

hired  servant,  and  for  the  stranger  that  sojourn- 

eth  with  thee. 

The  phrasing  is  such  as  would  be  employed  to  set 
forth  an  old  custom,  not  one  that  was  new.  It  is  a  cus- 
tom obligatory  not  alone  upon  a  Hebrew,  but  also  upon 
a  stranger.  It  is  a  custom  into  the  benefits  of  which  all 
hirelings  and  servants,  and  even  the  ox  and  the  ass, 
were  to  enter.  There  might  have  been  something  like 
it  in  Egypt  or  in  the  customs  of  the  kindred  nations; 
yet  we  are  in  ignorance  of  this  fact,  and  the  magnifi- 
cent industry  of  higher  criticism  has  not  yet  brought  it 
to  light.  Be  this  as  it  may,  certain  is  it  that  the  hu- 
maneness of  the  precept  breathes  out  the  spirit  which 
is  regnant  in  the  Mosaic  utterances. 

THE  SABBATH  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

E  12  Six  days  shalt  thou  do  thy  work.  And  on 
the  seventh  day  thou  shalt  rest,  and  thine  ox 
and  thine  ass.  And  the  son  of  thine  hand- 
maid and  the  stranger  shall  rest,  and  they  shall 
be  refreshed. 

The  most  striking  difference  between  these  two  cop- 
ies is  found  in  the  addition  in  E  of  the  words,  **  and 
they  shall  be  refreshed.'* 


^6  THE   SINAITIC   TORA. 

The  sabbatic  year  is  the  second  sacred  season  men- 
tioned in  the  Sinaitic  Tora.  The  institution  is  pecuHar- 
ly  Hebraic.  Higher  criticism  passes  it  by,  making  but 
little  attempt  to  promulgate  a  theory  of  its  origin.  In 
regard  to  the  antiquity  of  the  institution,  Kuenen  says: 
'*The  sabbatical  year  was  not  observed  before  the  cap- 
tivity, as  we  see  not  alone  by  the  silence  of  the  proph- 
ets and  historians  as  to  its  observance,  but  from  posi- 
tive statement  that  it  was  neglected."  (Hexateuch,  p. 
207.)  The  Sinaitic  Tora  requires  the  keeping  of  this 
sabbatic  year.  If  now  Kuenen  is  right,  then  this  tora 
is  post-exilic.  Our  contention  is  that  this  tora  is  Mo- 
saic, and  its  utterances  are  in  more  perfect  accord  with 
Moses's  time  and  the  environment  of  Israel  at  that  period 
than  at  any  subsequent  epoch.  But  this  proof  must  come 
after  the  restoration  of  the  document. 

SABBATIC  TEAR  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

L^2  The  land  shall  keep  a  sabbath  untoje- 
L  '^l  hovah.  Thou  shalt  neither  sow  thy  fiekl  nor 
L  "%  prune  thy  vineyard.   That  which  groweth  of  its 

own  accord  of  thy  harvest  thou  shalt  not  reap, 

nor  gather  in  the  grapes  of  thy  vine  undressed. 

L "%  It  is  a  year  of  rest  unto  the  land.     And   the 

f^  sabbath  of  the  land  shall  be  meat  for  you,  for 

the  stranger,  and  the  widow,  and  the  father- 
L  ^5  L  g  less  child,    and  for  thy  cattle.     And  the  land 

shall  yield  her  fruit,  and  ye  shall  eat  your  fill. 
L  f^  Ye  shall  eat  of  the  old  store  until  her  fruits 

come  in. 

The  regulation  is  most  remarkable,  because  found  in 
the  statute  book  of  a  nation.  There  was  a  year,  one  in 
every  seven,  when  the  growth  of  the  field  and  of  the 
vineyards  belonged  not  to  the  owners  of  the  land,  but  to 


RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS.  5? 

any  one,  man  or  beast.  There  was  a  year  when  the 
poor  among  Israel  were  not  obliged  to  beg  to  glean  in 
the  fields  or  to  ask  for  meat  to  eat.  The  sabbath  unto 
Jehovah  was  this  year;  in  its  days  the  needy  owned 
what  nature  grew  in  the  fields  and  on  the  vines.  Many 
secured  in  this  year  a  new  start,  and  during  the  follow- 
ing six  escaped  the  hardships  of  want.  Promise  is 
given  to  the  owner  of  the  soil  that  they  should  not 
want,  but  that  a  bounteous  old  store  would  keep  them 
until  the  harvest  times  came  in  the  eighth  year. 

SABBATIC  TEAR  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

i}\  L  "%      And  the  land  shall  keep  a  sabbath  unto 

L  11  Jehovah.    Ye  shall  not  sow  and  ye  shall  not 

reap,  nor  gather  the  grapes  in  it  of  the  vine 

L 12  undressed.     Ye  shall  eat  the  increase  there- 

L 11  of    out    of    the    field.     That    which    groweth 

J^  by  itself   in   it   is  for    the   stranger,   and    the 

L  ^  widow,  and  the  fatherless    child.     And   if  ye 

say,  What    shall  we   eat    the    seventh    year, 

behold  we  shall  not    sow  nor  gather  the   in- 

L  21  crease   thereof,    then   I    will   command    (saith 

Jehovah)  my  blessings  upon  you  in  the  sixth 

year,  and  it    shall  bring  forth  fruit  for  three 

L  22  years.     And  ye  shall  sow  the  eighth  year  and 

eat  of  the  old  fruit  until  the  ninth  year. 

The  expansion  in  the  latter  part  of  this  paragraph  in 
E  is  noticeable.  There  is  no  difference  in  the  enact- 
ment, but  the  mode  of  expressing  it  varies  remarkably. 
The  tendency  toward  the  dialogue  is  evident,  a  trait  of 
style  frequently  observed  in  this  copy  of  the  tora. 

The  year  of  jubilee  has  always  appealed  to  the  phil- 
anthropic sentiments  of  later  times.  It  is  the  third  sa- 
cred season  ordained  by  the  Sinaitic  Tora. 


58  THE  SINAITIC  TOR  A. 

TEAR  OF  JUBILEE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

^  And  it  shall  come  to  pass,  when  thou  art 
come  into  fhe  land  which  Jehovah  thy  God 
giveth  thee   for  an  inheritance  and  thou  shalt 

L  ^8  possess  it  and  dwell  therein,  then  thou  shalt 
number  seven  sabbaths  of  years  unto  thee  sev- 

L  "^l  en  times  seven  years.  And  thou  shalt  cause 
the  trumpet  of  jubilee  to  sound  on  the  tenth 

L  i5  day  of  the  seventh  month.  And  ye  shall  pro- 
claim liberty  through  the  land  unto  the  inhab- 

L  J3  itants   thereof.      In  this  year  of  jubilee  every 

L  If  man  shall  return  unto  the  possession  of  his 
fathers. 

The  tora  represents  the  jubilee  year  as  the  time  of 
release  from  bondage.  The  tora,  therefore,  contem- 
plates only  a  condition  which  was  familiar  to  Israel  at 
that  time.  Moses  instituted  a  year  when  all  Israel- 
ites should  be  set  free.  He  knew  well  the  hopelessness 
of  those  who  suffered  perpetual  bondage. 

TEAR  OF  JUBILEE  ACCORDING  TO  E. 


19      And    it    shall    come    to    pass,    when    Jeho- 
vah thy    God    shall   give    thee    rest   from   all 
thine  enemies  round  about  in  the  land  which 
Jehovah  thy   God  giveth    thee   for   an    inher- 
it'^fitance  to  possess  it,  then  the  space  of  seven 
sabbaths  of  years  shall  be  unto  thee  forty-nine 
l'^J  years,  and  on  the  day  of  atonement  ye  shall 
make  the  trumpet  to  sound  throughout  all  your 
L  i§  land.     It  shall  be  a  jubilee  unto   you,  and  ye 
shall  return  every  man  unto  his  family. 

The  mode  of  designating  the  time  for  the  year  of  ju- 
bilee differs  in  E,  but  the  time  itself  is  the  same.    Here 


RESPECTING  THE   SACRED  SEASONS.  59 

is  mentioned  the  day  of  atonement;  yet  higher  criti- 
cism contends  that  such  a  day  was  not  known  until  after 
the  exile.  But  our  tora  is  the  Sinaitic  one,  and  this  day 
is  named  in  it. 

Nothing  in  higher  criticism  is  so  noteworthy  as  the 
ease  with  which  its  followers  overturn  the  oldest  tradi- 
tions of  the  Hebrews,  and  proffer  in  their  stead  a  gene- 
sis for  the  feasts  which  is  abhorrent  to  the  very  essence 
of  the  reliofion  of  Israel.  The  achievement  of  modern 
scholars  in  this  peculiar  field  is  quite  as  remarkable  as  if 
a  modern  engineer  were  to  fasten  a  gossamer  thread  to 
the  most  stupendous  pyramid  of  Egypt  and  topple  the 
hoary  thing  from  off  its  base,  then  affirm  that  it  always 
had  rested  upon  its  side. 

We  now  come  in  this  tora  to  the  passover.  We  should 
keep  in  mind  that  with  higher  criticism  '*  original  Yah- 
wism  "  is  Mosaism.  Budde  gives  the  following  account 
of  the  feast  of  the  passover.  He  says:  **  It  may  be  per- 
haps asked,  What  part,  then,  of  the  religious  practice  of 
Israel  remains  for  original  Yahwism  ?  To  this  question 
a  satisfactory  definitive  and  comprehensive  answer  can- 
not of  course  be  given.  But  we  can  name  at  least  one  ob- 
servance whose  close  and  exclusive  connection  with  Yah- 
weh  worship  is  attested  by  the  tradition,  and  which  bears 
on  its  own  face  all  the  marks  of  pre-Canaanite  nomadic 
religion,  in  distinction  from  that  of  Canaan.  I  refer  to 
the  feast  of  the  passover.  This  is  now,  indeed,  closely 
connected  with  the  first  of  the  agricultural  feasts,  the 
feast  of  unleavened  bread.  But  the  connection  is  not 
original,  as  may  be  readily  seen.  The  latter  feast  is  in- 
separably connected  with  Pentecost  and  the  tabernacles. 
The  passover  has  nothing  to  do  with  these.  Tradition, 
it  is  true,  now  gives  to  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  an 


6o  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

origin  which  connects  it  as  well  as  the  passover  with  the 
exodus  from  Egypt;  doubtless  because  its  date  of  cele- 
bration came  in  course  of  time  to  be  closely  connected 
with  that  of  this  feast.  But,  nevertheless,  the  special 
occasion  at  least  is  different  from  that  assigned  for  the 
passover,  and,  in  the  oldest  legislation  in  J,  the  institu- 
tion of  both  feasts  is  kept  strictly  apart.  .  .  .  The  pass- 
over  belongs  to  the  desert,  Mazzoth  to  the  cultivated 
land."  (''The  Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile,"  p.  73.) 
The  claim  that  reconstructive  criticism  makes  in  this 
place  is  that  the  passover  is  inseparably  connected  with 
the  three  feasts  in  the  Mosaic  Tora,  and  that  likewise 
in  the  Sinaitic  Tora  this  is  the  case.  If  one  be  ancient, 
all  are  so.  The  passover  is  a  sacrament  rather  than  a 
feast,  a  meal  eaten  in  memory  of  a  manifestation  of  di- 
vine power  shown  when  Jehovah  with  an  outstretched 
arm  brought  Israel  out  of  Egypt.  We  will  now  give  the 
Sinaitic  statute  respecting  this  sacred  season. 

THE  PASSO  VER  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

^2  N  f      The  passover  ye  shall  keep  it  in  his  appointed 

season  according  to  all  the  rites  of  it  at  even ; 

^l  for  in  the  month  of  Abib    thou  earnest  forth 

E  ^7  out  of  Egypt.     And  there  shall  be  no  leavened 

E^l  bread  seen  with  thee.      And  thou  shalt  show 

E  .^7  thy  son  in  that  day,  saying,  It  is  the  sacrifice 

of  Jehovah's   passover,    who  passed   over  the 

houses    of    the    children    of    Israel  in    Egypt, 

when  he  smote  the  Egyptians  and  delivered  our 

E  ^6  houses.      Seven  days  thou  shalt  eat  unleavened 

E  J^  bread.    No  leaven  shall  be  found  in  your  houses. 

I2  And  thou  shalt  remember  that  thou  wert  abond- 

^2  rnan  in  Egypt.     Thou  shalt  sacrifice  unto  Jeho- 

I9  vah  thy  God  all  the  firstlings  male  that  come  of  thy 


RESPECTING  THE   SACRED   SEASONS.  6l 

E  "  herd  and  thy  flock.  And  every  firstUng  of  an 
ass  thou  shalt  redeem  with  a  lamb.  And  if 
thou  wilt  not  redeem  it,  thou  shalt  break  his 
neck.     And  all  the  firstborn   of    man  among 

E  II  thy  children  thou  shalt  redeem.  And  ye  shall 
observe  this  thing  for  an  ordinance  for  thee 
and  thy  sons  forever. 

Our  limits  will  not  allow  a  comparison  of  this  state- 
ment respecting  the  passover  with  that  which  we  find 
in  the  Mosaic  Tora.  Confining  ourselves  to  this  Si- 
naitic  phrasing  of  the  statute,  we  observe  that  the  pass- 
over  is  referred  to  as  a  well-known  institution.  Indeed, 
all  of  Moses's  listeners  at  this  time  had  celebrated  the 
occasion  a  year  or  so  before  in  Egypt.  No  reminder  is 
given  to  Israel  of  what  the  passover  meal  is  to  be.  Yet 
emphasis  is  placed  upon  the  time  of  day  and  upon  the 
requirement  that  no  leavened  bread  be  eaten  with  the 
meal.  The  reason  for  this  sacred  season  is  adduced: 
*'  For  in  the  month  of  Abib  thou  camest  forth  out  of 
Egypt."  The  great  care  of  the  lawgiver  is  that  the 
children  of  Israel  in  the  coming  days  should  not  forget 
the  meaning  of  that  feast.  The  attestation  of  faith  in 
the  deliverance  from  Egypt  in  after  times  was  the  an- 
nual dedication  of  the  firstlings  male  to  Jehovah,  re- 
deeming none  save  the  firstborn  of  mankind  and  the 
firstborn  of  the  ass. 

THE  PASSOVER  ACCORDING  TO  E, 

^5X3      The  passover  ye  shall  keep  it  according  to 

N  6  N  2  all  the    ceremonies    thereof  at  even,  in  its  ap- 

E 18  pointed  season  ;   for  in  the  month  of  Abib  thou 

E  Jj  camest    out   of  Egypt,      Ye    shall    put    away 

E  26  leaven  out  of  your  houses.     And  it  shall  come 


62  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

to  pass  when  your  children    shall  say,  What 

E  2?  mean  ye  by   this   service  ?  then  ye  shall  say, 

E  S  E "  It   is  Jehovah's    passover,   because    of    what 

Jehovah    did    unto  me  when    I    came    out  of 

E 15  Egypt.     Then   it   came  to   pass,   when    Pha- 

E^raoh  would    hardly  let  the  people  go,  by  the 

strength    of    the    hand   Jehovah    brought   us 

out  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage. 

E  S,  20  Seven  days  shall  ye  eat  unleavened  bread  in  all 

your  habitations;  ye  shall  eat  nothing  leavened. 

22  And  remember  thou  wert  a  bondman  in  Egypt. 

\l  And  thou  shalt  sanctify  unto  Jehovah  thy  God 

E  5^  every  firstling  among  the  cattle,  whether  ox  or 

eJJ  sheep,  and  the  firstborn  of  an  ass  thou  shalt 

redeem  with  a  lamb  ;  and  if  thou  redeem  him 

N  II  not,  then  thou  shalt  break  his  neck.     But  the 

firstborn    of  man  thou    shalt    surely    redeem. 

E  ]^  And  ye  shall  keep  it  a  feast  by  an  ordinance 

forever. 

In  matters  pertaining  to  the  religion  of  Jehovah  and 
the  feasts  of  Israel,  I  have  confined  my  quotations  to  the 
recently  published  lectures  of  Professor  Budde,  be- 
cause they  represent  the  accepted  conclusions  of  the 
higher  criticism  and  were  carefully  prepared  so  as  to 
make  the  radical  divergences  of  this  school  from  the 
accepted  belief  as  palatable  as  possible  to  American 
scholarship.  The  simple  purpose  which  I  have  in  view 
is  to  restore  the  Sinaitic  Code,  so  my  plan  will  not  allow 
controversy.  The  conclusions  of  higher  criticism  are 
given,  and  by  their  side  the  results  of  reconstructive  crit- 
icism. By  their  fruit  ye  may  know  them,  even  though 
the  multiform  processes  of  growth  may  not  be  re- 
corded. 

The  Sinaitic  Tora  has  in  it  a  section  relating  to  the 


RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS.  63 

three  annual  feasts.  The  following  quotations  are 
made  from  Budde's  **The  Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Ex- 
ile" :  **  But  even  Hosea  himself  knows  that  these  feasts 
do  not  belong  to  the  most  ancient  Yahweh  worship,  for 
he  declares  that  the  ultimate  measure  for  converting 
and  reforming  unfaithful  Israel  will  be  to  lead  it  back 
into  the  wilderness.  There,  where  Israel  has  neither 
vine  nor  fig  tree,  it  shall  learn  again  to  serve  Yahweh 
in  the  days  of  its  youth,  and  as  in  the  day  when  it 
came  up  out  of  Egypt"  (p.  46).  Now  the  unfaith- 
fulness of  Israel  in  Hosea's  time  manifested  itself  most 
conspicuously  in  the  debauchery  practiced  at  these 
feasts.  And  as  a  matter  of  fact,  assuming  that  Hosea 
was  acquainted  with  the  Sinaitic  Tora,  he  would  have 
known  that  these  feasts  which  were  instituted  at  Sinai 
could  not  have  been  scenes  of  debauchery,  while  Israel 
for  thirty-eight  years  wandered  in  the  Sinaitic  peninsu- 
la. And  hence  his  exhortation  would  not  show  igno- 
rance of  them,  but  simply  display  his  wise  counsel,  that 
these  feasts  should  have  the  simple,  stern  character  they 
had  in  the  desert.  Again  Budde  says:  **The  Israel- 
ite of  the  olden  times  could  expect  no  blessing  from 
his  god,  Yahweh,  upon  agriculture;  for  he  was  a  god 
of  the  steppe,  and  had  no  control  over  the  treasures  of 
the  cultivated  land.  But  the  god  whom  the  Canaanites 
venerated,  the  Baal,  that  is  the  possessor  of  land  and 
soil,  had  his  control.  We  learn  from  Hosea  (!)  of  the 
people's  conviction  that  they  must  serve  him,  if  their 
labors  were  to  be  successful,  if  they  would  reap  where 
they  had  sown.  This  service  it  learned  from  its  Ca- 
naanite  teachers.  They  told  the  Israelites  that  all  the 
laborious  work  of  the  farmer  would  be  of  no  avail  if 
the  worship,  consisting  of  such  and  such  rites,  were  not 


64  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

paid  to  Baal.  The  sun  would  scorch  everything;  the 
mountain  torrents  would  bury  the  crops  under  gravel 
and  mire;  the  seed  would  choke  in  the  soil;  the  locusts 
would  eat  everything  bare;  earthquakes  would  hurl 
their  dwellings  to  the  ground,  if  men  did  not  show  the 
Baal  the  honor  due"  (p.  58).  If  these  words  were  said 
of  those  early  German  barbarians,  who  came  over  the 
Alps  centuries  ago  and  descended  upon  the  Roman 
cities  of  the  Italian  plains,  substituting  only  appropriate 
names  for  the  deities,  it  might  do.  But  Israel,  when 
that  nation  entered  Canaan,  had  two  noble  toras,  the 
Sinaitic  and  the  Mosaic ;  and  in  these  toras  there  were 
agricultural  feasts,  but  so  ordained  that  attending  them 
would  emphasize  the  difference  in  the  religious  faith  of 
Israel  and  that  of  the  Canaanites.  Other  reasons  led 
Israel  to  abandon  Jehovah  and  serve  Baal  than  those 
which  were  grounded  in  hopes  to  appease  Baalim.  li 
Budde  be  right,  the  religion  of  Israel  is  not  worthy  of 
respect  until  after  the  alleged  discovery  of  the  book  of 
law  by  Hilkiah,  which  in  the  view  of  higher  criticism 
is  a  forgery. 

A  reference  to  the  Mosaic  Tora  will  show  how  some 
years  later  the  three  annual  feasts  were  reiterated  in  it. 
We  will  now  give  them  as  they  were  earlier  ordained  in 
the  Sinaitic  Tora.  Let  us  not  fail  to  remember  that 
these  feasts  were  instituted  after  Israel  had  emerged 
from  the  great  and  terrible  desert,  and  had  possessed 
the  Sinaitic  peninsula,  and  had  reared  up  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation  upon  some  height  facing  Sinai. 

THREE  ANNUAL  FEASTS  ACCORDING  TO  J, 
E  as      Thrice  in  a  year  shall  all  your  male  children 
E 19  appear  before  Jehovah  thy  God.      Thou  shalt 

bring  the  first  fruits  of  the  land  unto  the  house  of 


RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS.  65 

L  I' Jehovah  thy  God.     And  when  ye  have  gathered 

in  the  fruit  of  thy  land  ye  shall  keep  a  feast  unto 

L  ^Jehovah  seven  days.     And  ye  shall  take  on  the 

first  day  branches  of  palm  trees  and  willows  of 

L II  the  brook,  and  ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  seven 

E  J'  L  27  days.     And  ye  shall  observe  the  d^y  of  atone- 

N I  ment  according  to  all  its  rites. 

THREE  ANNUAL  FEASTS  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

E 14      Three  times  in  the  year  shalt  thou  keep  a  feast 

E  26  unto  me  the  God  of  Israel.     Thou  shalt  bring 

the  first  fruits  of  the  land  into  the  house  of  Je- 

Ejlhovah    thy  God.      When  thou  hast  gathered 

L  ^f  thy  labors  out  of  the  field,  then  ye  shall  keep 

it  a  feast  unto  Jehovah  seven  days  in  the  year. 

L^aL^And  all  that  are  Israelite  born  shall  dwell  in 

booths  of  the  boughs  of  goodly  trees  and  boughs 

L4I  of  thick  trees,  that  your  generations  may  know 

that  I  made  the   children   of  Israel  dwell  in 

booths  when  I  brought  them  out  of  the  land  of 

iJ  E 1^  Egypt.     Ye  shall  keep  the  feast  of  the  atone- 

l^N^ment  unto  Jehovah  thy  God  according  to  all 

the  ceremonies  thereof. 

The  statement  of  these  feasts  in  this  tofa  makes  it 
evident  that  they  have  no  connection  at  all  with  the  Ca- 
naanitic  agricultural  festivals.  This  enactment  does 
not  read  like  one  instituted  centuries  later  and  palmed 
off  as  a  product  of  the  Mosaic  age.  The  reference  to 
the  feast  of  unleavened  bread  is  as  to  one  which  had 
been  observed.  The  statement  in  regard  to  the  two 
agricultural  feasts  clearly  indicates  that  these  feasts 
were  established  in  the  Sinaitic  wilderness  long  before 

5 


66  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

Israel  entered  into  possession  of  the  land  of  Canaan. 
It  was  needful  that  Israel  should  be  trained  to  the  cul- 
tus  of  the  tabernacle,  and  so  almost  forty  years  were 
passed  in  obeying  its  regulations  and  making  its  cultus 
a  part  of  their  life. 

The  reference  to  booths  by  error  was  placed  in  the 
Mosaic  Tora.  It  belongs  here.  The  abandonment  of 
the  practice  of  making  booths  took  place  apparently  as 
soon  as  the  Mosaic  Tora  supplanted  the  Sinaitic  in  the 
community  of  Israel.  It  is  not  strange,  therefore,  when 
Hilkiah  found  the  Sinaitic  Tora  and  gave  it  to  Josiah, 
that  he  restored  the  custom  of  making  booths  in  which 
Israel  were  to  dwell  during  the  celebration  of  the  feast 
of  tabernacles. 

The  section  upon  the  annual  feasts  in  the  copy 
of  E  is  substantially  the  same  as  that  which  we  have 
found  in  J. 

The  chapter  treating  of  the  sacred  seasons  as  estab- 
lished by  the  Sinaitic  Tora  is  concluded.  The  legisla- 
tion of  this  subject  is  in  harmony  with  that  given  in  the 
Mosaic  Tora.  The  evidential  value  of  two  witnesses  to 
these  feasts  and  two  copies  of  each  of  these  witnesses  is 
of  the  highest  importance,  making  in  fact  a  complete 
demonstration  of  the  antiquity  of  these  institutions. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

STATUTES    RESPECTING    THE  SANCTUARY. 

The  ritual  of  the  sanctuary  of  Israel  is  contained  in 
the  book  of  Leviticus.  The  toras,  both  the  Mosaic 
and  the  Sinaitic,  simply  declare  the  sacred  persons, 
the  sacred  place,  and  the  sacred  things.  Kuenen  says: 
"  The  distinctions  between  priests  and  Levites,  so  em- 
phatically enforced  by  P,  only  appears  once  in  the  whole 
preexilian  and  exilian  literature.  It  is  in  i  Kings  viii.  4, 
and  the  passage,  both  on  this  account  and  on  other  ac- 
counts, lies  under  suspicion.  Of  Aaron  as  the  ances- 
tor of  the  legitimate  priesthood,  no  writer  before  Ezra 
knows  anything.  From  the  end  of  the  seventh  century 
we  find  the  priesthood  assigned  to  the  tribe  of  Levi  as 
a  whole,  just  as  it  is  in  Deuteronomy.  Ezekiel  con- 
firms this,  but  ordains  that  in  the  future  only  one  Le- 
vitical  family,  that  of  Zadok,  shall  exercise  the  priest- 
hood, while  the  other  Levites  are  to  occupy  themselves 
in  the  lower  services  connected  with  the  cultus."  (Hex- 
ateuch,  p.  203.) 

Reconstructive  criticism  contends,  on  the  contrary, 
that  in  Israel  under  Mosaism  there  was  the  distinction 
between  the  Levites  and  the  priesthood,  and  that  at  no 
time  after  the  establishment  of  the  priests  at  Sinai  was 
there  any  other  view  in  Israel.  Calamity,  such  as  the 
destruction  of  the  tabernacle  at  Shiloh,  interrupted  the 
functions  of  the  priests  and  gave  the  Levites  promi- 
nence ;  but  the  Davidic  revival  of  Mosaism  restored  the 
descendants  of  Aaron  to  their  rightful  office  as  the 
priests  of  Jehovah.     The  Mosaic  Tora  as  restored  con- 

(67) 


68  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

firmed  these  views  of  the  priesthood,  and  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  Sinaitic  Tora  does  the  same. 

The  Sinaitic  Tora  was  delivered  to  Israel  many  years 
before  the  people  began  their  march  toward  Ca- 
naan. While  listening  to  Moses,  as  he  uttered  this  law, 
they  could  see  the  tabernacle,  which  they  reared  and 
placed  under  the  shadow  of  Sinai.  Aaron  and  his  sons 
stood  near,  wearing  the  garments  which  had  been  made 
to  distinguish  them  as  specially  set  apart  unto  the  serv- 
ice of  Jehovah.  And  near  by  was  the  tribe  of  Levi, 
who  had  been  given  to  Aaron  for  the  purpose  of  car- 
ing for  the  tabernacle  and  the  services  of  the  sanc- 
tuary. Tradition  and  the  studious  reading  of  the  Exo- 
dus narrative  have  given  to  the  Church  this  picture  of 
the  days  at  Sinai.  For  centuries  this  view  has  been 
the  accepted  view.  But  higher  criticism  affirms  that 
not  until  the  time  of  Ezra  were  the  ordinances  of  the 
sanctuary  known,  and  that  what  we  read  in  Exodus 
regarding  this  subject  is  but  the  transference  of  later 
usages  and  customs  to  the  period  of  Moses  in  order  to 
give  them  the  air  of  antiquity  and  the  authority  of  a 
long  sanction. 

Reconstructive  criticism  denies  wholly  this  view  of 
higher  criticism,  and  contends  for  the  truthfulness  of 
that  view  which  the  Church  has  held  for  ages,  inherit- 
ing it  from  the  Jews.  And  to  establish  its  claims  re- 
constructive criticism  has  restored  in  two  copies  the 
Tora  of  Moses,  and  in  these  pages  it  will  restore  the 
Sinaitic  Tora,  which  will  show  that  the  traditional 
view  is  substantially  correct;  that  the  tabernacle  was 
reared  in  sight  of  Sinai;  that  its  ordinances  were 
given  at  that  place;  that  Aaron  and  his  sons  at  that 
time  received  the  priesthood,  and  the  Levites  were  set 


RESPECTING  THE  SANCTUARY.  69 

apart  to  special  services  connected  with  the  newly  or- 
dained ritual  and  the  tabernacle. 

We  will  now  consider  the  priesthood  in  Israel,  as  set 
forth  in  the  Sinaitic  Tora.  The  priesthood,  as  ordained 
in  the  Tora  of  Moses,  is  as  follows :  *'  The  priests  are  the 
sons  of  Aaron;  for  him  Jehovah  thy  God  chose  out  of 
all  thy  tribes  to  stand  to  minister  in  the  name  of  Jeho- 
vah and  to  bless  in  the  name  of  Jehovah,  him  and  his 
sons  forever.  Thou  shalt  sanctify  him  therefore,  for 
he  offereth  the  bread  of  thy  God.  He  shall  be  holy; 
for  he  is  holy  unto  his  God.  And  he  shall  not  profane 
the  sanctuary  of  his  God.  He  shall  eat  the  bread  of  his 
God  and  the  offerings  of  Jehovah  made  by  fire.  Je- 
hovah is  his  inheritance  according  as  Jehovah  thy  God 
has  promised."  This  passage  from  the  Mosaic  Tora 
clearly  requires  a  priesthood  that  is  Aaronic,  and  that 
its  support  shall  be  from  the  offerings  at  the  sanctuary. 
The  Sinaitic  Tora  is  older  by  a  number  of  years  than 
the  Mosaic,  and  its  precepts  were  in  force  during  their 
wanderings  about  Sinai  until  the  Israelites  marched  to 
the  Jordan  and  received  in  the  plains  of  Moab  the  Mo- 
saic Tora.  It  is  difficult  to  surmise  just  what  form  the 
Sinaitic  Tora  would  give  to  the  statute  respecting  the 
priesthood.  One  requirement  would  be  that  it  be 
not  inconsistent  with  the  provision  in  the  Mosaic ;  the 
same  in  substance,  but  perhaps  with  a  less  finished  and 
full  statement. 

CONCERNING  THE  PRIEST  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
N  10      And  thou  shalt  appoint  Aaron  and  his  sons, 

and  they  shall  wait  upon  me  in  their  priest's 
L  il  office.     And  they  shall  not  profane  the   holy 

things   of  the  children   of   Israel  which   they 

offer  unto  Jehovah. 


*]0  THE   SINAITIC   TORA. 

We  should  not  forget  that  this  statute  was  for  a  peo- 
ple who  were  to  be  a  nomadic  shepherd  people  with 
their  sanctuary  set  up  at  Sinai.  And  also  we  are  to 
keep  in  mind  that  the  ritual  for  worship  in  Israel  was 
recently  given,  and  had  all  the  charm  that  an  imposing 
religious  ceremony  would  exercise  over  a  people  who 
had  been  exposed  to  slavery  and  to  the  hardships  of 
the  desert.  All  that  is  said  in  the  provision  of  the  Si- 
naitic  Tora  is  that  Aaron  and  his  sons  hold  their  place 
in  the  community  by  the  appointment  of  its  members, 
and  that  they  shall  watch  over  and  not  profane  the  holy 
things  of  the  children  of  Israel.  The  ordinance  is  like 
that  in  the  Mosaic  Tora  so  far  as  the  persons  are  con- 
cerned who  may  become  priests,  and  so  far  as  the  care 
of  these  honored  persons  should  exercise  in  order  not 
to  profane  the  things  of  the  sanctuary. 

CONCERNING  THE  PRIEST  ACCORDING  TOE. 

N  14  Thou  hast  separated  from  among  the  chil- 
L  3  E  ^9  dren  of  Israel  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  the 
L  ^2  priest's  office  shall  be  theirs.  And  they  shall 
be  separated  as  holy  from  among  the  children  of 
Israel,  and  they  shall  not  profane  my  holy  name 
and  the  holy  things  which  they  hallow  unto 
me. 

The  copy  of  E  is  not  unlike  that  of  J  in  the  Sinaitic 
Tora.  Each  copy  requires  that  Aaron  and  his  sons 
hold  exclusively  the  priesthood,  and  that  they  keep  the 
holy  things  of  Jehovah  unprofaned.  Most  interesting 
some  day  will  be  the  study  of  the  differences  in  the 
copies.  But  that  must  be  after  the  tora  and  its  kindred 
literature  have  been  restored. 

The  place  of  the  Levite  in  the  cultus  of  Israel  is  a  storm 


RESPECTING  THE   SANCTUARY.  *]1 

center  of  controversy.  Higher  criticism  maintains  that 
not  until  after  the  exile  did  they  become  subordinate 
attaches  to  the  temple  worship,  that  in  preexilic  times 
they  were  priests  of  Yahweh,  and  performed  the  duties 
of  their  office  in  Israel.  Sometimes  a  higher  critic 
steps  into  the  field  of  the  exegete.  Budde  does  this 
act  in  reference  to  a  passage  from  the  *' Blessing  of 
Moses"  (Deuteronomy  xxxiii.  9).  The  words  of  this 
verse  are:  "Who  said  to  his  father  and  mother,  I 
know  them  not ;  and  would  not  recognize  his  brother, 
nor  acknowledge  his  own  sons,  but  followed  thy  word 
and  kept  thy  covenant."  The  verse  refers  to  Levi. 
Budde  says  concerning  this  passage  as  follows:  *'  Here 
we  have,  in  fact,  the  very  moment  of  Levi's  origin,  and 
this  is  how  it  must  be  understood.  At  Moses's  call  the 
faithful  from  all  the  tribes  hasten  to  him  to  lend  him 
their  arm  even  against  their  own  kindred.  Those 
thus  tested  and  proved  remained  from  this  time  on 
united,  and  formed  a  new  tribe,  Levi.  Of  course  the 
Exodus  passage,  where  it  now  stands,  means,  and  must 
be  understood  to  mean,  *  all  who  were  sprung  from 
Levi,  the  son  of  Jacob,  gathered  themselves  unto 
Moses.'  But  originally  the  sense  was,  'all  who  are 
now  called  Levites,'  more  exactly  the  ancestors  of  the 
present  tribe  of  Levi.  But  since  later  all  the  tribes  of 
Israel  were  reckoned  as  sons  of  Jacob,  Levi  also  re- 
ceived by  anticipation  his  position  among  the  rest,  and 
'all  the  Levites'  from  Moses's  time  received  the  new 
sense,  *  all  the  descendants  of  Levi,  the  son  of  Jacob."' 
(**The  Religion  of  Israel  to  the  Exile,"  p.  83.)  This 
band  of  faithful  Israelites,  who  in  a  critical  moment 
came  to  the  rescue  of  Moses,  were,  according  to  Budde, 
rewarded  with  the  priesthood  of  Yahweh. 


72  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

Neither  the  Mosaic  Tora  nor  the  Sinaitic  Tora  knows 
anything  of  such  an  origin  for  the  tribe  of  Levi.  And 
further,  neither  one  tora  nor  the  other  recognizes  the 
Levites  as  forming  a  priesthood.  They  are  in  the  Si- 
naitic Tora  simply  assistants  in  the  services  of  the  sanc- 
tuary, especially  the  menial  ones.  A  nobler  function 
is  av^arded  them  in  the  Mosaic  Tora.  They  are  there 
appointed  the  criminal  judges  of  Israel,  to  enter  upon 
their  office  v^hen  Israel  entered  their  possessions. 

THE  LEVITES  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

N  if  N 19  The  Levites  were  a  gift  unto  Aaron  and  his 
N  \  sons  from  among  the  children  of  Israel.  And 
they  shall  keep  his  charge  and  the  charge  of 
the  whole  congregation  before  the  tabernacle 
of  the  congregation  to  do  the  service  of  the 
tabernacle. 

Such  is  the  Sinaitic  regulation  in  reference  to  the  po- 
sition of  the  Levites  in  the  community.  Israel  at  that 
time  were  ready  for  any  service  to  Jehovah.  A  wonder- 
ful enthusiasm  for  the  more  fully  developed  worship  in 
connection  with  the  tabernacle  pervaded  the  whole 
camp.  Some  had  been  set  apart  as  priests,  some  as 
their  assistants.  The  Sinaitic  Tora,  not  the  Mosaic 
Tora,  contains  the  statute  which  refers  to  the  separa- 
tion of  the  tribe  of  Levi  to  the  service  of  the  tabernacle. 
The  same  motive  which  leads  men  to-day  to  accept 
the  duties  and  burdens  of  the  ministry  actuated  Levi 
to  accept  their  tasks.  The  motive  is  that  such  conduct 
is  well  pleasing  to  Jehovah.  The  requirement  that 
the  Levites  should  have  no  inheritance  in  Israel  is 
found  in  the  Mosaic  Tora,  but  not  in  the  Sinaitic. 


RESPECTING  THE  SANCTUARY.  73 

THE  ,LEVITES  ACCORDING   TO  E, 

N  J  And  thou  shalt  give  the  Levites  unto  Aaron 
and  his  sons  ;  they  shall  be  wholly  given  unto 

N I  him  from  among  the  children  of  Israel.  And 
they  shall  keep  all  the  instruments  of  the  tab- 
ernacle of  the  congregation  and  the  charge  of 
the  children  of  Israel  to  do  the  service  of  the 
tabernacle. 

The  copy  of  E  is  in  accord  with  that  of  J  as  regards 
the  position  which  the  Levites  were  to  hold  in  Israel. 
A  cumulative  force  is  added  to  the  arguments  for  the 
theory  of  reconstructive  criticism,  coming  from  the  res- 
toration of  each  new  section  of  the  tora.  As  each  ad- 
ditional part  is  completed,  there  is  of  course  less  remain- 
ing from  which  to  complete  the  tora.  As  the  theory 
requires  two  copies,  it  is  likely  that  there  would  be 
wanting  some  matter  in  one  or  the  other  copy,  if  the 
theory  was  not  true,  the  nearer  this  remaining  matter 
was  used  up  in  the  reconstruction. 

The  next  subject  treated  in  the  Sinaitic  Tora  is  *^The 
Central  Sanctuary."     The  Mosaic  Tora  makes  it  clear 
that,  when  Israel  should   enter  into  its  possessions  be- 
yond the   Jordan,  a  central  sanctuary  is  to  be  chosen 
for  all  the  people,  and  that  to  it  Israel  must  come  to 
make  its  offerings  at  the  times  of  the  established  feasts. 
It  is  not  only  interesting,  but  also  a  matter  of  surprise, 
the  manner  in  which  the    Sinaitic  Tora  presents  this 
same  subject.    But  before  we  give  this  statement,  let  us 
pause  to  consider  the  conception  of  the  worship  in  Is- 
rael which  higher  criticism  proffers  us  as  the  result  of 
its  critical  researches.     Wellhausen  describes  the  cul- 
tus  in  the  century  850-750  B.C.     He  says:   **  To  the 
ordinary  man,  it  was  not  moral  but  liturgical  acts  that 


74  THE   SINAITIC  TORA. 

seemed  to  be  truly  religious.  Altars  of  Jehovah  oc- 
curred everywhere,  with  sacred  stones  and  trees — the 
latter  either  artificial  (Asheras  )  or  natural — beside 
them;  it  was  considered  desirable  also  to  have  water  in 
the  neighborhood  (brazen  sea).  In  cases  where  a  tem- 
ple stood  before  the  altar  it  contained  an'  ephod  and 
teraphim,  a  kind  of  images  before  which  the  lot  was 
cast  by  the  priest.  Of  the  old  simplicit}^  the  cultus 
retained  nothing;  at  the  great  sanctuaries  especially 
(Bethel,  Gilgal,  Beersheba)  it  had  become  very  elab- 
orate. Its  chief  seasons  were  the  agricultural  festivals, 
the  passover,  the  feast  of  weeks,  and  most  especially  the 
feasts  of  ingathering  at  the  close  of  the  year.  These 
were  the  only  occasions  of  public  worship  properly  so 
called  at  which  every  one  is  expected  to  attend ;  in  other 
words,  each  worshiper  sought  the  presence  of  God  only 
in  special  circumstances,  as  for  example  at  the  begin- 
ning and  at  the  end  of  particular  undertakings.  The 
cultus  as  to  place,  time,  matter,  form,  belonged  entire- 
ly to  the  inheritance  which  Israel  had  received  from 
Canaan ;  to  distinguish  what  belonged  to  Jehovah  from 
that  which  belonged  to  Baal  was  no  easy  matter." 
(Prolegomena,  p.  468.) 

Nothing  could  be  more  erroneous  than  this  genesis 
of  the  cultus  of  Israel.  We  admit  that  just  before  the 
appearing  of  Amos  many  foreign  elements  had  been 
introduced  into  the  religion  of  Judah,  and  especially  into 
that  of  the  kingdom  of  Israel.  But  these  were  in  direct 
violation  of  the  cultus  of  the  two  toras.  It  was  very 
easy  at  that  time  to  distinguish  between  the  cultus  of 
Jehovah  and  this  imported  cult.  One  had  the  prestige 
of  centuries,  the  authority  of  the  Mosaic  and  the  Si- 
naitic  toras,  while  the  idolatrous  practices  were  some- 


RESPECTING  THE  SANCTUARY.  75 

thing  taken  on  by  Israel.  Wellhausen's  view  of  the 
cultus  of  Israel  stands  only  if  Deuteronomy  with  its  cul- 
tus  is  subsequent  to  the  time  of  Amos.  The  restora- 
tion of  the  Mosaic  Tora  demonstrates  that  the  theory 
of  Deuteronomy  as  advanced  by  higher  criticism  is  not 
maintainable;  and  with  the  restoration  of  the  Sinaitic 
Tora,  which  takes  up  most  of  what  was  left  in  our 
present  Deuteronomy  after  the  Tora  of  Moses  was 
restored,  reconstructive  criticism  places  its  theory  upon 
unanswerable  arguments. 

The  central  place  of  worship  recognized  in  the  Si- 
naitic Tora  was  first  established  when  Israel  entered 
into  Amalek's  possessions.  Their  great  leader  is  ever 
mindful  of  the  great  traditions  of  the  past,  nor  does 
he  forget,  in  his  great  enthusiasm  for  that  broader 
life  upon  which  Israel  was  now  entering,  the  sacred 
things  of  the  desert.  During  their  journeyings,  when 
the  tent  of  the  ark  was  set  up,  Israel  built  an  altar 
and  sacrificed.  Then  the  mode  of  life  was  migrato- 
ry. There  was  no  permanent  sanctuary,  because  Is- 
rael had  no  country  of  their  own.  Abraham,  Isaac, 
and  Jacob  had  builded  altars  and  offered  thereon  sac- 
rifices. But  this  function  of  worship  had  been  re- 
stricted to  one  family  in  the  desert,  or  at  least  Aaron 
and  his  sons  became  more  and  more  identified  with 
the  sanctuary  which  Israel  had  in  their  midst  dur- 
ing those  weary  wanderings  from  Horeb  to  Sinai. 
The  blossoming  of  Aaron's  rod  is  a  tradition  which 
carries  out  this  assertion.  Moses  is  careful  not  to 
condemn  the  past  modes  of  cultus,  but  he  directs  Is- 
rael's mind  to  the  nobler  future  of  the  nation  and  to 
the  need  of  the  central  sanctuary  for  worship,  which 
they  had  set  up  in  their  midst  in  gratitude  for  the  vie- 


»j6  THE  SINAITIC   TORA. 

tory  at    Rephidim   and   in   reverent  love  for  Jehovah 
their  God. 

THE  PLACE  OF  WORSHIP  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

J^      Take  heed  to  thyself  that  thou  offer  not  thy 

burnt  offerings  in  every  place,  where  thou  has 
Ji  visions,  but  there  is  now  a  place  where  Jehovah 

thy  God  chooseth  to  cause  his  name  to  dwell ; 
}^  there  thou  shalt  offer  thy  burnt  offerings,  and 

there  thou  shalt  do  according  to  all  that  I  have 
26  commanded  thee.     And  thou  shalt  eat  before 

Jehovah  thy  God,  thou  and  thy  household,  and 
Is  thou  shalt  rejoice  in  all  that  thou  puttest  thine 

hand  unto. 

We  have  altered  the  expression  *'  which  thou  seest'' 
to  *'  where  thou  hast  visions."  The  Hebrew  word  per- 
mits this  meaning.  Indeed,  the  Hebrew  word  for  **seer'' 
is  from  the  same  root.  Our  reason  for  the  change  is 
that  the  tradition  of  Israel's  past  was  that  God  re- 
vealed himself  in  visions.  Jacob  had  these.  And  Ha- 
gar  had  one,  and  gave  in  consequence  a  new  name  to 
God.  Reference  is  made  to  the  newly  instituted  cultus 
and  the  central  sanctuary  in  the  words,  **  there  thou 
shalt  do  according  to  all  that  I  commanded  thee." 

These  commands  had  relation  to  the  manner  of  mak- 
ing these  offerings  and  sacrifices  as  ordained  in  the 
ritual  of  the  tabernacle. 

THE  PLACE  OF  SACRIFICE  ACCORDING  TO  E, 

"  Ye  shall  not  do  after  that  which  we  do 
here  this  day :  every  man  whatsoever  is  right 
^l  in  his  own  eyes.  Ye  shall  not  do  so  unto 
g  Jehovah  your  God.  But  thou  shalt  offer 
55  thy     burnt     offerings     before     Jehovah     thy 


12  12 
6, 


RESPECTING  THE  SANCTUARY.  77 

God  in  the  place  which  Jehovah  thy  God 
}i  chooses  to  place  his  name;  thither  shall  ye 
^j  bring  all  that  I  have  commanded  you.  And 
there  ye  shall  eat  before  Jehovah  your  God, 
and  ye  shall  rejoice  in  all  that  you  put  your 
hand  to,  wherein  Jehovah  thy  God  hath 
blessed  you,  ye  and  your  household. 

In  view  of  these  statements  concerning  the  place  of 
worship  in  the  two  copies  of  the  Sinaitic  and  the  Mosaic 
toras,  nothing  could  be  more  foreign  to  the  religious 
life  of  Israel,  as  it  was  developed  and  lived  for  centu- 
ries, than  to  claim  with  higher  criticism  that  '*the  cul- 
tus  as  to  place,  time,  form,  matter,  belonged  entirely  to 
the  inheritance  which  Israel  received  from  Canaan." 

The  last  section,  under  the  head  of  '*  The  Worship  in 
Israel,"  treats  of  such  animals  as  may  be  eaten.  Our 
study  is  simply  of  the  facts  which  belong  to  the  Sina- 
itic Tora,  not  their  explanation.  In  regard  to  the  laws 
regulating  this  matter  of  clean  and  unclean  animals, 
Kellogg,  in  his  book  upon  Leviticus  (p.  283),  says:  **It 
may  also  be  said  that,  as  a  general  rule,  the  appetite  of 
the  great  majority  of  enlightened  and  cultivated  nations 
revolts  against  using  as  food  the  greater  part  of  the  an- 
imals which  this  code  prohibits.  Birds  of  prey,  for  in- 
stance, and  the  carnivora  generally,  animals  having 
paws,  and  reptiles,  for  the  most  part,  by  a  kind  of 
universal  instinct  among  cultivated  peoples,  are  judged 
unfit  for  human  food.'^  The  section  upon  this  subject 
in  the  Sinaitic  Tora  differs  from  the  corresponding  one 
in  the  Mosaic  Tora,  not  in  the  classification,  but  simply 
in  the  mode  of  enumeration.  The  Sinaitic  Tora  is 
more  specific.  The  life  of  Israel  in  Egypt  and  the  desert 
would  naturally  have  led  the  people  to  eat  every  living 


yS  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

thing  fit  for  food.  And  as  the  question  came  up  in 
the  community  as  to  whether  such  an  animal,  which 
had  been  caught,  might  be  eaten,  the  decisions  were 
made  and  were  characterized  by  mention  of  its  name. 
Hence  this  section  in  the  Sinaitic  Tora  bears  upon  its 
face  the  evidence  of  how  the  laws  grew  up  in  Israel, 
because  in  Egypt  and  as  later  emergencies  arose  the 
decisions  were  rendered. 

THE  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

L  '2  L  JS      These  are  the  beasts  which  shall  not  be  eaten 
L  "  L  "  among  all  the  beasts  that  are  on  the  earth ;  as 
L  2J  the  camel,  for  he  cheweth  the  cud  and  divideth 
L  "  L  "  the  hoof  and  is  cloven-footed  ;  and  the  coney, 
L26  for  he  cheweth  not  the  cud  and  is  cloven-foot- 
le" L  *}  ed ;  and  the  hare,  for  he  cheweth  the  cud  and 
L  "  is  cloven-footed ;  and  the  swine,  though  he  di- 
videth the  hoof,  yet  he  cheweth  not  the  cud ; 
^6  and  every  beast  which  divideth  the  hoof  and 
lJS  cleaveth  the  cleft  into  two  claws,  as  the  chame- 
L  22  L  30  leon  after  its  kind  and  the  lizard  after  its  kind, 
L  22  L  29  the  mouse  and  the  weasel  after  its  kind. 
L  ^2  L  29  These  of  them  ye  may  eat  that  creep  upon  the 
L  22  earth,  the  locust  after  its  kind  and  the  grass- 
L  J^  hopper  after  its  kind.      These  ye  shall  have 
in  abomination  among  the  fowls:  the  eagle  and 
L  J4  the  ossifrage  and  the  osprey,  and  the  vulture 
L  J5  and  the  kite  after  his  kind,  and  the  raven  after 
L  {g  his  kind,  and  the  owl  and  the  night  hawk  and 
L }}  the  cuckoo  and  the  hawk  after  its  kind,    and 
the  little  owl  and  the  cormorant  and  the  great 
L  }J  owl,  and  the  swan  and  pelican  and  the  gier 
L  J^  eagle,  and  the  stork  and  the  heron  after  her 
L}Jkind,  and  the  lapwing  and  the  bat.     And  all 
that  have  not  fins  and  scales  of  all  that  move 


RESPECTING  THE   SANCTUARY.  79 

in  the  waters,  they  shall   be  an  abomination 
unto  you. 

This  table  is  remarkable  for  the  specific  character 
which  is  found  in  it.  The  beasts  are  such  as  Israel 
were  acquainted  with  in  Egypt  or  met  on  the  heights  or 
in  the  scattered  vegetation  of  the  desert.  The  birds 
were  such  as  waded  the  Nile  and  its  streams,  or  such 
as  flew  along  the  shores  of  the  Red  Sea  and  above  the 
mountain  clifts,  or  over  the  desert.  It  is  the  zoology 
of  the  land  they  came  from  or  of  the  desert  in  which 
they  had  lived  which  come  under  review  in  this  prohib- 
ited list. 

THE  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

L  46       This  is  the  law  of  the  beast  and  the  fowl 

and  of  every  living  creature  that  moveth  in  the 

waters  and  of  every  creature  that  creepeth  upon 

'}  the  earth.     Verily  these  ye  shall  not  eat ;  of 

L  26  L  ^1  them  that  chew  the  cud  and  divide  the  cloven 

L  \  ^\  foot,  as  the  camel ;  of  them  as  the  coney  that 

chew  not  the  cud  but  divide  the  hoof,  and  as 

L  "  the  hares,  for  they  chew  the  cud  but  divide  not 

"  the  hoof ;  and  the  swine,  for  he  divideth  the 

L  26  hoof   but  cheweth  not  the  cud.     That  which 

cleaveth  the  cleft  into  claws  is  unclean  unto 

L  29  you,  as  the  chameleon  after  its  kind,  the  lizard 

after  its  kind,  the  shrew  mouse  and  the  weasel 

L  ^9  AFTER  ITS  KIND.     Amoug  the  Creeping  things 

L  22  ye  may  eat  the  locust  after  its  kind  and  the 

I2  grasshopper  after   its    kind.      And   these   are 

they  of  which  ye  shall  not  eat :   the  eagle  and 

{3  the  ossifrage  and  the  osprey,  and  the  glede  and 

J4  the  kite  and  the  vulture  after  his  kind,  and  the 

{5  raven  after  his  kind,  and  the  owl  and  the  night 


8o  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

hawk  and  the  cuckoo  and  the  hawk  after  his 
i^  kind,  and  the  Httle  owl  and  the  great  owl  and 
\*  the  swan,  and  the  pelican  and  the  gier  eagle 
\l  and  the  cormorant  and  the  stork  and  the  heron 

after  her  kind,  and  the  lapwing  and  the  bat. 
L  \l  Whatsoever   in   the   waters  hath  no  fins  nor 

scales,  that  shall  be  an  abomination  unto  you. 

The  table  as  found  in  the  copy  of  E  is  characterized 
like  that  in  J  by  a  careful  specification  of  the  animals 
■which  are  not  to  be  eaten,  also  the  form  of  the  table  is 
prohibitive.  A  special  discussioft  of  these  tables  alone 
will  explain  their  reconstruction,  but  we  cannot  enter 
upon  this  discussion  in  this  place. 

We  conclude  this  chapter  by  simply  reaffirming  that 
no  more  convincing  proof  need  be  given  of  the  grave 
errors  into  which  higher  criticism  has  fallen  respecting 
the  worship  in  Israel  than  the  production  of  the  chap- 
ters in  the  Mosaic  and  the  Sinaitic  toras  which  treat 
upon  this  subject.  Here  we  find  the  regulations  given 
for  the  worship  in  Israel,  and  they  agree  in  the  two 
toras,  being  related  to  each  other  as  a  fuller  to  a  less 
complete  statement.  Of  each  tora  we  have  furnished 
two  copies.  The  improbability  of  these  two  toras  be- 
ing found  in  Exodus-Deuteronomy,  after  higher  criti- 
cism has  worked  a  century  upon  this  matter  and  only 
succeeded  in  establishing  certain  so-called  codes,  each 
greatly  redacted,  makes  the  reproduction  of  them  in  two 
copies  all  the  more  convincing,  and  should  win  accept- 
ance for  the  theory  of  reconstructive  criticism. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

THE  JUDGMENTS   OF  THE  LAW. 

In  Egypt  Israel  as  bondmen,  so  far  as  their  differences 
became  cognized  by  law,  were  subject  to  the  Egyptian 
civil  code.  Yet  it  is  hardly  possible  that  any  civil  rights 
were  allowed  them.  During  the  early  period  of  their 
sojourn  in  the  Egyptian  territory  the  Israelites  must  have 
had  certain  usages  which  regulated  matters  of  differ- 
ence between  them.  Joseph  secured  his  people  without 
doubt  in  the  right  to  exercise  these  civil  methods.  Apart 
from  this  probable  source  for  the  civil  regulations,  which 
became  law  in  Israel,  it  is  certain  that  even  in  a  con- 
dition of  bondage  observation  would  acquaint  the  Is- 
raelites with  those  elementary  rules  which  must  become 
operative  in  every  community  in  order  that  security  to 
property  and  personal  rights  might  be  conserved. 

Naturally  their  great  leader  became  the  authoritative 
voice  which  settled  matters  of  dispute  arising  in  that 
period  which  was  included  between  the  flight  from 
Egypt  and  the  coming  into  the  region  round  about  Ho- 
reb.  This  duty  to  the  community  was  very  burdensome 
to  Moses,  and  at  the  suggestion  of  Jethro,  his  father-in- 
law,  he  appointed  judges  to  attend  to  the  lesser  matters 
of  difference  and  reserved  for  himself  the  right  to  de- 
termine the  greater  causes.  Such  was  the  method  of 
civil  procedure  during  the  wanderings  in  the  desert. 
Now  when  the  people  were  settled  in  and  around  Sinai 
there  was  need  of  some  definitive  statement,  or  some 
code,  which  should  gather  up  the  principles  which  Is- 
rael had  accepted  as  right  during  their  wanderings 
6  <8i) 


82  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

and  should  add  other  precepts  suited  to  a  more  settled 
life.  The  Sinaitic  Tora  contains  this  first  codification 
of  the  legal  usages  in  Israel. 

Higher  criticism  accepts  as  true  all  the  preceding  par- 
agraph except  the  last  sentences.  It  denies  that  Moses 
ever  gave  any  formal  statement  to  Israel  respecting  cul- 
tus  or  civil  law.  Wellhausen  says:  ^'  In  fact,  it  can  be 
shown  that  throughout  the  whole  of  the  older  period  the 
tora  was  no  finished  legislative  code,  but  consisted  en- 
tirely of  the  oral  decisions  and  instructions  of  the  priests ; 
as  a  whole  it  was  potential  only;  what  actually  existed 
were  the  individual  sentences  given  by  the  priesthood 
as  they  were  asked  for.  Thus  Moses  was  not  regarded 
as  the  promulgator,  once  for  all,  of  a  national  constitu- 
tion, but  rather  as  the  first  to  call  into  activity  the  na- 
tional sense  for  law  and  justice,  and  to  begin  the  series 
of  oral  decisions  which  were  continued  after  him  by  the 
priests.  He  was  the  founder  of  the  nation  out  of  which 
the  tora  and  prophecy  came  as  later  growths.  He  laid 
the  basis  of  Israel's  subsequent  peculiar  individuality, 
not  by  one  formal  act,  but  in  virtue  of  his  having  through- 
out the  whole  of  his  life  been  the  people's  leader,  judge, 
and  center  of  union."    (Prolegomena,  p.  438.) 

It  is  yet  to  be  proved  that  the  priests  (if  there  were 
any  in  the  deserts)  had  anything  to  do  with  the  civil 
judgments.  And  without  doubt,  until  the  emergence 
from  the  desert,  all  decisions  were  simply  oral,  made  in 
accordance  with  a  traditional  standard  of  right,  or  in 
accordance  with  some  principle  adopted  when  any  new 
case  arose.  We  hold,  moreover,  that  after  an  elaborate 
system  of  religion  was  established,  and  the  people  were 
to  enter  upon  thirty-eight  years  of  probation,  Moses 
gave  a  formal  statement  of  the  law,  civil  and  religious, 


THE  JUDGMENTS   OF  THE  LAW.  83 

and  this  tora  ruled  the  community  of  Israel  until  they 
came  to  the  Jordan. 

The  chapter  upon  the  ''Judgments  of  the  Law''  in 
the  Sinaitic  Tora  is  separated  into  three  sections,  name- 
ly, that  concerning  crimes,  that  concerning  injuries,  and 
that  concerning  truth  and  judgment.  Each  section  is 
very  brief.  The  first,  that  upon  crime,  reflects  the  se- 
verity of  the  legal  usages  which  had  governed  Israel  in 
the  desert  of  Sinai. 

CONCERNING  CRIMES  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
1^       Cursed  be  the  man  that  maketh  a  molten  or 
28, 15  graven  image,  the  work  of  men's  hands,  and 
setteth  it  up  in  a  secret  place. 
J5  L  16       Cursed  be  he  that  blasphemeth  the  name  of 
Jehovah. 
iJ       Cursed  be  he  that  maketh  light  of  his  father 
or  his  mother. 

20  Cursed  be  he  that  lieth   w^ith   his   father's 
wife  ;   for  he  hath  uncovered  his  father's  skirts. 

^       Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with  his  sister. 

21  Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with  any  manner  of 
beasts. 

2I       Cursed  be  he  that  smiteth  his  neighbor  se- 
cretly. 

The  accursed  one  is  put  to  death.  Hence  from  this 
section  we  can  determine  what  crimes  in  Israel  were 
visited  with  capital  punishment.  Crimes  against  Jeho- 
vah were  idolatry  and  blasphemy;  crimes  against  the 
home  were  the  cursing  of  the  father  or  the  mother,  in- 
cest, and  filthiness  with  beasts;  crime  against  society 
is  murder.  The  brevity  of  this  part  of  the  code  sug- 
gests that  crime  was  so  abhorrent  to  the  high  ethical 
sense  of  Israel  that  it  required  only  the  fact  of  its  occur- 


84  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

rence  to  be  known  in  order  to  have  the  perpetrators  cer- 
tainly visited  with  speedy  punishment.  It  is  interesting 
to  observe  how  in  the  Tora  of  Moses  cases  of  crime  were 
stated  with  great  fullness.  The  penalties  in  each  tora 
remained  unchanged.  Safeguards  were  placed  around 
cases  in  which  there  might  arise  some  doubt  of  the  ac- 
cused party's  guilt,  in  the  later  tora. 

CONCERNING  CRIMES  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

^9  E  20       Cursed  be  he  that  sacrificeth  to  any  god, 
i5  E  20  the  work  of  the  hands  of  a  craftsman,  save  Je- 
hovah only. 
33  L  16       Cursed  be  he  that  blasphemeth  the  name  of 

Jehovah. 
17  E  15       Cursed  be  he  that  smiteth  his  father  or  his 
mother. 
16,  30       Cursed  be  the  man  who  taketh  his  father's 
wife  and  discovereth  his  father's  skirts. 
17, 23, 22       Cursed  be  he  who  lieth  with  the  daughter 

of  his  father  or  the  daughter  of  his  mother. 
iJ  E  19       Cursed  be  every  one  who  lieth  with  a  beast. 
25       Cursed  be  he  that  taketh  reward  to  slay  the 
innocent. 

The  crimes  here  are  the  same  as  we  found  mentioned 
in  J.  Some  little  variations  occur  in  the  form  of  ex- 
pression. The  curse  involving  murder  is  at  heart  the 
same.  There  is  no  mercy  for  a  murderer.  Cases 
where  killing  occurred,  with  doubt  as  to  the  motive, 
would  probably  have  been  open  to  investigation,  and  a 
hearing  would  be  given.  But  to  one  who  slew  the  in- 
nocent for  gain,  death  alone  was  meted  out. 

The  section  upon  injuries  is  remarkably  short.  The 
sternest  justice  was  required  in  case  of  an  injury  inflict- 
ed.    There  was  no  fine  allowed,  but  whatever  injury 


THE  JUDGMENTS   OF  THE  LAW.  85 

was  inflicted  upon  one,  the  community  was  obliged  to 
inflict  the  same  upon  the  malicious  person. 

CONCERNING  INJURIES  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

L  19  If  a  man  cause  a  blemish  in  a  neighbor,  as 
he    hath   done,   so  shall   it  be  done  unto  him. 

L  il  He  that  killeth  a  beast  shall  make  it  good, 
beast  for  beast. 

CONCERNING  INJURIES  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

L  20  Breach  for  breach,  eye  for  eye,  tooth  for 
tooth.     As  one  causeth  blemish  in  a  man,  so 

L  2}  shall  it  be  done  to  him.  He  that  killeth  a 
beast  shall  restore  it. 

The  phrasing  of  this  injunction  is  far-reaching;  nor 
is  it  in  any  way  opposed  to  the  corresponding  regula- 
tion in  the  Tora  of  Moses.  Indeed,  the  two  toras  agree. 
We  speak  too  often  with  harshness  in  regard  to  the 
**eye-for-eye  "  principle  of  the  Mosaic  law;  but  every 
community  in  its  beginnings  adheres  to  something  akin 
to  this  rule.  A  decadent  civilization  has  in  its  provisions 
concerning  injuries  manifold  ways  to  avoid  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  law  of  *'an  eye  for  an  eye,  a  tooth  for  a 
tooth."  And  our  Christian  civilization  holds  up  as  the 
better  law  the  forgiveness  of  injuries.  But  it  is  yet  un- 
codified among  modern  nations  what  injuries  may  be 
forgiven  without  lessening  the  security  which  a  law  like 
the  Sinaitic  places  about  the  members  of  a  civic  com- 
munity. 

The  last  section  of  this  chapter  is  upon  Truth  and 
Judgment.  It  is  in  this  part  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora  that 
we  obtain  a  glimpse  of  that  form  of  government  which 
regulated  Israel's  legal  affairs  while  at  Sinai.  Down- 
right honest  dealing  was  demanded,  the  discountenan- 


86  THE   SINAITIC   TORA. 

cing  of  false  rumors,  the  highest  respect  for  the  judge, 
adherence  to  truth  against  the  trend  of  a  multitude, 
the  exactest  justice  to  a  poor  man,  and  the  mainte- 
nance of  a  strict  equity  for  the  stranger,  the  widow, 
and  the  fatherless.  These  are  the  principles  which  Is- 
rael applied  to  civil  matters  in  the  years  of  their  wan- 
derings, and  which  made  them  invincible  when  organ- 
ized into  a  militant  host.  These  principles  saved  the 
people  from  those  excesses  which  too  often  have  con- 
quered the  victors  in  the  history  of  the  past.  Interest 
therefore  attaches  itself  to  the  form  in  which  these  prin- 
ciples are  expressed  in  this  tora. 

CONCERNING  TRUTH  AND  JUDGMENT  ACCORD- 
ING TO  J. 

L  Jl       Thou  shalt  not  defraud  thy  neighbor. 

E  ^1        Thou  shalt  not  raise  a  false  report. 

E  2I       Thou  shalt  not  curse  the  judges. 

E  ^2       Thou  shalt  not  follow  after  the  multitude  to 

do  evil  in  a  cause. 
E  ^^2       Thou  shalt  not  speak  after  many  to  decline 
E  "%  thy  poor  in  his  cause. 
S,  30, 19       Pervert  not  the  judgment  of  the  stranger, 

the  widow,  and  the  fatherless. 

The  apothegmatic  power  of  these  precepts  from  a  lit- 
erary standpoint  is  most  noticeable.  They  seem  almost 
axioms,  universal  in  their  character.  It  was  Israel's 
lawgiver  that  first  caught  these  fundamental  truths  of 
social  life  and  gave  them  noblest  expression. 

CONCERNING  TRUTH  AND  JUDGMENT  ACCORD- 
ING TO  E. 

E  ^5       Thou  shalt  keep  thee  from  a  false  matter. 
L  le       Thou  shalt  not  go  up  and  down  *as  a  tale- 
bearer amongst  thy  people. 


THE  JUDGMENTS  OF  THE  LAW.  87 

E  28       Thou  shalt  not  curse  a  judge  of  thy  people. 
E  ^1       Put  not  thy  hand  with  the  wicked  to  be  an 
unrio-hteous  witness. 

o 

E  ^1  E  ^2        Thou  shalt  not  countenance  the  perverting 
E  ^3  of  a  poor  man  in  his  cause. 
1}       Thou  shalt  not  pervert  the  judgment  of  the 
stranger  and  the  widow  and  the  fatherless. 

The  copy  of  E  agrees  with  that  of  J  in  these  precepts. 
There  is  not  the  tediousness  of  a  repetition.  Were  this 
the  case,  then  there  would  be  ground  to  doubt  the  wit- 
ness of  either  tora  to  the  ancient  order  of  things  in  Is- 
rael. In  fact,  the  differences  constitute  a  most  impor- 
tant element  in  the  evidence  which  each  tora  brings  to 
the  truth  of  the  theory  of  reconstructive  criticism. 

Students  will  find  that  the  two  toras,  the  Mosaic  and 
the  Sinaitic,  which  reconstructive  criticism  has  restored 
contain  the  Deuteronomic  Code,  the  Book  of  the  Cove- 
nant, and  the  Laws  of  Holiness,  the  three  principal 
codes  which  higher  criticism  has  brought  to  light.  In 
consequence  of  this  fact,  students  are  driven  either  to 
accept  the  codes  of  higher  criticism  with  all  the  illog- 
ical character  found  in  them,  together  with  all  the  redac- 
tions, inconsistencies,  and  contrary  statements,  or  else  to 
accept  the  theory  of  a  Mosaic  and  a  Sinaitic  Tora,  each 
in  two  copies,  which  reconstructive  criticism  proffers. 
The  reasonableness  of  this  claim  is  apparent. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

OBEDIENCE  AND   BLESSING. 

Prophecy  in  Israel  is  no  vague  cloud,  out  of  which 
later  ages  may  gather  uplift  by  throwing  its  own  light 
upon  the  dimness  and  create  therein  the  rainbow  colors 
of  hope.  On  the  contrary,  the  essence  of  Hebrew  proph- 
ecy is  absolute  certainty  respecting  the  will  and  pur- 
poses of  Jehovah.  The  truth  which  it  imparts  has  pow- 
er and  significance,  not  alone  in  the  day  of  its  utterance, 
but  in  the  coming  days,  all  along  the  history  of  our  race, 
when  conditions  are  suitable  for  its  fulfillment.  Sub- 
lime is  Moses's  confidence  in  his  message  which  is  con- 
veyed in  the  Sinaitic  Tora.  These  commandments  and 
statutes  and  judgments  are  so  vital  to  Israel  that  the  for- 
getting of  them  imperils  existence  itself.  The  doing  of 
them  is  obedience  to  the  will  of  Jehovah.  Fidelity  to 
the  precepts  of  the  tora  is  faithfulness  to  Israel's  God  in 
the  view  of  the  tora. 

The  only  practical  worth  of  the  Code  of  Moses  above 
any  other  code,  whether  Roman  or  Grecian,  is  that  the 
injunctions,  if  obeyed,  constitute  a  conformity  to  the 
will  of  God.  It  is  alone  this  peculiar  character  which 
makes  the  Mosaic  legislation  more  precious  than  Solon's, 
and  which  makes  a  rational  basis  for  our  Christian  faith 
in  the  Scriptures.  But  it  is  this  very  feature  which  per- 
ishes under  that  critical  theory  which  higher  criticism 
advances.  In  the  hortatory  close  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora  we 
have  presented  the  subjects  of  *' Obedience  and  Life" 
and  **  Obedience  and  Blessing."  The  life  referred  to 
is  national,  not  individual.  In  the  world-movements  the 
(88) 


16 

20 
12 


OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING.  89 

inevitable  law  is  that  individuals  are  but  part  of  the  mass. 
In  character  upbuilding  the  individual  in  himself  is  the 
world,  that  microcosm  which  is  fashioned  into  beauty 
or  hideousness  according  to  the  animating  spirit.  The 
life  of  Israel  depended  upon  faithful  adherence  to  this 
tora.     Such  is  the  announcement  of  Israel's  lawgiver. 

OBEDIENCE  AND  LIFE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

E  15       And  it    shall  come  to  pass  when  Jehovah 

shall  bring  thee  into  the  land  of  the  Canaan- 

ites,  as  he  sware  unto  thee  and  unto  thy  fa- 

"  thers,  and  shall  give   it    unto  thee,  these  are 

the  statutes  and  the  judgments  which  ye  shall 

observe  to  do  that  thou  mayest  live  and  inherit 

'1  the  land  which  Jehovah,  God  of  your  fathers, 

40  giveth  thee  to  possess   it,  and  that  it  may  go 

well  with  thee  and  with  thy  children  after  thee 

in  the  land,  and  that  thou  mayest  prolong  thy 

days  upon   the  land  which  Jehovah  thy  God 

giveth  thee  forever. 

Life  in  the  land  is  conditioned  upon  obedience  to  the 
tora.  Incidentally  it  may  be  noticed  how  perfectly  the 
facts  accord  with  the  theory  of  reconstructive  criticism. 
This  paragraph  is  harmonious  and  good  writing.  Yet 
it  is  restored  from  three  different  places  in  Deuterono- 
my out  of  what  remained  after  almost  all  of  the  Sinaitic 
Tora  had  been  reconstructed,  and  all  of  the  Mosaic 
Tora. 

OBEDIENCE  AND  LIFE  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

E  ^      And  it  shall  come  to  pass  when  ye  shall  come 

to  the  land  which  Jehovah  will  give  you  ac- 

5  cording  as  he  hath  promised,  then  these  are 

the   statutes   and   judgments    which  Jehovah 


90  THE   SINAITIC  TORA. 

your    God    commanded  to  teach  you  that  ye 

\  should  do  them  in  the  land  which  Jehovah, 

gf  God  of  your  fathers,  will   give  you,  that   ye 

may  live   and  it  be   w^ell  with  you,  and  that 

you  may  prolong  your  days  in  the  land,  which 
*i  ye  shall  possess,  all  the  days  that  ye  live  upon 

the  earth. 

The  two  copies  agree ;  each  enforces  in  its  own  way 
the  utterance  that  national  life  and  obedience  to  the  Si- 
naitic  Tora  go  hand  in  hand. 

The  section  upon  *' Obedience  and  Blessing"  is  con- 
structed for  the  most  part  from  Deuteronomy  xxviii.  i- 
7  and  15-19.  This  twenty-eighth  chapter  has  been  the 
object  of  the  most  patient  study  of  the  higher  critics. 
They  agree  that  it  is  made  up  of  *'Deuteronomic  mate- 
rials," and  Wellhausen  attributes  it  to  the  author  of 
v.-xi.  of  Deuteronomy.  Kuenen  says:  '' Valeton  only 
allov^s  V.  1-6,  15-19  to  the  author  of  the  hortatory  dis- 
course (v.-xi.),  and  regards  all  the  rest  as  later  expan- 
sions. He  points  out  the  connection  of  these  verses 
with  xxvi.  16-19,  and  the  beautiful  parallelism  between 
the  blessing  and  the  curse  which  marks  them.  Un- 
doubtedly the  denunciation  would  have  gained  in  force 
if  the  author  had  restrained  himself  within  the  limits 
proposed;  but  does  this  give  us  any  right  to  deny  that 
the  elaborate  development  of  the  antithesis  is  his  ?  In  v. 
7-14,  20-68,  I  cannot  discover  a  single  indication  of  di- 
verse authorship,  and  the  language  and  style  are  D^ 
throughout."     (Hexateuch,  p.  127.) 

Reconstructive  criticism  considers  the  word  ''curse" 
in  these  verses  (16-18)  to  belong  to  the  section  con- 
cerning the  penalties  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora.  The  word 
''blessing"  appears  six  times  in  v.  3-6.     The  ''beauti- 


OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING.  9I 

ful  parallelism "  of  Valeton  between  the  blessing  and 
the  curse  is  without  foundation.  Reconstructive  criti- 
cism assumes  the  right  of  rearrangement  of  the  words 
of  Deuteronomy  only  to  restore  the  two  copies  of  the 
tora.  If  it  fails  to  do  this,  there  is  no  ground  in  reason 
for  the  liberty  of  taking  the  textus  receptus  to  redispose 
it  in  order  to  make  some  kind  of  a  literary  production. 
This  same  right  is  assumed  by  higher  critics  when  they 
caused  to  be  printed  in  polychrome  colors  the  different 
documents  of  the  Pentateuch. 

OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

1^      And  it  shall  be  when  Jehovah  thy  God  shall 

have    brought   thee    into   the  land    which    he 

^^2  sware  unto  thy  fathers,  if  thou  hearken  unto 

^9  the  voice  of  Jehovah   thy   God,   and   if   thou 


shalt  keep  all  these  commandments  and 
statutes  and  judgments  to  do  them,  then 
ALL  THESE  BLESSINGS  shall  come  upon  thee. 
Blessed  shalt  thou  be  in  the  city  and    in    the 


28    28 
3,  16 

55^  ^5  field,    thy    basket     and    thy    store ;     Blessed 
51  shall  be   the  fruit  of    thy  body  and  the  fruit 

of  thy  land,  the  increase  of  thy  kine  and  the 
\  19  flocks  of    thy  sheep ;    Blessed   shalt    thou  be 

when  thou  goest  out  and  when  thou  comest  in. 
'^  And  Jehovah  shall  cause  thine  enemies  that 

rise  up  against  thee  to  be  smitten  before  thy 

face.     They  shall  come  out  against  thee  one 
13  way  and  flee  before  thee  seven  ways.     And 

thou  shalt  be  above  only,  and  thou  shalt  not  be 

underneath. 

An  incomparable  confidence  possessed  Moses  when 
he  spake  to  Israel  the  sure  sequence  upon  their  obedi- 
ence to  the  law.     He  had  said  in  the  preceding  section 


92 


THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 


that  obedience  was  the  condition  of  national  life.  He 
says  here  that  obedience  will  insure  blessings.  An  obe- 
dient people  shall  have  the  voices  of  children  in  their 
homes,  shall  see  their  fields  and  flocks  bring  forth  abun- 
dantly. Their  enemies  shall  flee  before  them.  They 
shall  be  at  the  head. 

OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

12/1I       Wherefore    it    shall    come    to   pass,   when 
thou  art  come  into  the  land  which  Jehovah  thy 
"  God  giveth  thee,  as  he  hath  sworn  unto  thy 
}J^  12  fathers,  and  shalt  dwell  therein,  if  ye  heark- 
en to  these  commandments  and   statutes  and 
^2  judgments  and  keep  and  do  them,  all  these 
'^l  BLESSINGS  shall  overtake  thee.     Blessed  shalt 
^5  thou  be  in  the  city  and  in  the  field,  thy  basket 
^4  and  thy  store  ;   Blessed  shall  be  the  fruit  of  thy 
body  and  the  fruit  of  the  ground,  the  increase 
^1  of  thy  kine  and  thy  flocks  of  sheep ;  Blessed 
shalt  thou  be  when  thou  goest  out  and  when 
L  '^  thou  comest  in.     And  five  of  you  shall  chase 
a  hundred,  and  a  hundred  of  you  shall  put  ten 
1®  thousand  to  flight.     And  thou  shalt   lend   to 
13  many  nations  and  shalt  not  borrow.     And  Je- 
hovah shall  make  thee  the  head  and  not  the 
tail. 

The  only  considerable  variation  in  this  copy  is  where 
reference  is  made  to  the  enemies.  Yet  the  meaning  is 
one.     Israel  shall  be  invincible,  if  they  obey. 

We  have  concluded  the  chapter  upon  '*  Obedience 
and  Blessing.*'  The  same  supreme  trust  in  Jehovah  is 
found  in  this  tora  which  we  met  in  the  Mosaic  Tora. 
The  commandments  and  statutes  and  judgments  are  es- 
sentially the  same  in  each,  and  the  logic  of  things  would 


OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING.  93 

require  that  the  outcome  of  obedience  should  be  the 
same.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  one  mind  is 
present  in  each  tora.  The  same  fundamental  principles 
are  present;  the  same  result  follows  when  these  princi- 
ples find  normal  opportunity  for  working  in  the  hearts 
of  Israel. 


CHAPTER  X. 

DISOBEDIENCE   AND  PUNISHMENT. 

As  Moses  spake  the  closing  words  of  the  Sinaitic 
Tora,  a  deep  silence  must  have  come  upon  Israel.  The 
awful  array  of  disasters  which  would  succeed  one  an- 
other, in  case  the  chosen  people  departed  from  Jehovah 
their  God,  had  in  itself  a  power  that  would  naturally 
create  in  the  listeners  the  hush  of  an  overwhelming  awe. 
These  men  who  heard  the  words  of  this  tora  from  Moses 
had  also,  only  a  short  time  before,  witnessed  the  the- 
ophany  at  Sinai,  when  God  spake  and  they  heard  and 
trembled.  All  of  these  men  had  been  engaged  in  mak- 
ing and  setting  up  the  tabernacle.  And  their  hearts 
were  enkindled  with  noble  devotion  to  a  great  and  com- 
forting faith  in  God.  The  commandments  and  the  judg- 
ments of  the  tora  were  not  new ;  they  had  been  the  civ- 
ic constitution  during  the  sojourn  in  the  wanderings. 
Some  of  the  statutes  were  new,  because  they  dealt  with 
modifications  in  the  cultus.  Yet  this  new  religious  life, 
with  its  ceremonies,  was  simply  an  amplified  form  of 
what  they  had  been  bred  to  in  the  deserts,  and  in  no 
way  inconsistent  with  it.  All  was  adapted  to  a  larger 
communal  existence,  to  a  people  being  educated  to 
enter  among  the  nations  of  the  earth  as  a  world-power. 
Yet  only  this  nation,  among  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
was  taught  in  their  law  that  the  calamities  which  should 
overtake  them  in  later  days  would  be  conditioned  upon 
their  attitude  to  the  tora  which  governed  them. 
(94) 


DISOBEDIENCE   AND  PUNISHMENT.  95 

Let  US  now  recall  briefly  the  conclusions  of  higher 
criticism  in  regard  to  its  codes.  Kuenen  says:  *'The 
results  of  the  inquiry  now  completed  show  that  in  the 
year  of  the  reformation  of  Ezra  and  Nehemiah  (about 
444  B.C.),  the  Deuteronomico-prophetic  sacred  history 
and  the  historico-legislative  priestly  work  both  existed 
independently.  The  union  of  these  two  gave  rise  to  the 
present  Hexateuch."  (Hexateuch,  p.  313.)  The  same 
author  gives  the  reason  and  the  approximate  time  for  the 
union  of  these  two  independent  works.  He  says:  **As 
long  as  the  two  remained  independent  they  challenged 
comparison,  and  the  great  difference  between  them  could 
not  but  be  observed.  If  this  difference  were  regarded 
as  amounting  to  contradiction,  then  the  prestige  of  the 
two  works  alike  must  suffer  under  it,  and  the  authority 
of  the  more  recently  introduced  legislation  specially  be 
shaken.  There  was  but  one  means  of  averting  this  dan- 
ger, namely,  to  weld  together  these  two  independent  but 
related  works  into  a  single  whole  which  might  then 
claim,  without  fear  of  challenge,  the  place  which  Juda- 
ism assigned  to  the  documents  of  Yahweh's  revelation 
to  the  fathers.  It  is  therefore  highly  probable  that  the 
Sopherim  lost  no  time,  and  that  before  the  end  of  the 
fifth  century  they  had  produced  the  Hexateuch . "  (  Hex- 
ateuch, p.  314.) 

Our  purpose  in  quoting  the  above  paragraph  is  to 
bring  to  mind  the  date  assigned  to  the  various  docu- 
ments, which  higher  criticism  alleges  to  have  discovered 
in  the  so-called  Hexateuch.  DJE  existed  independent- 
ly with  P  at  about  444  B.C.  Before  the  close  of  this 
century  the  Sopherim  made  all  the  recensions  which 
higher  criticism  has  pointed  out.  Hence  D^  and  D^ 
are  supposed  to  have  arisen  just  before  the  close  of  the 


96  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

fifth  century.  Chapter  xxviii.  of  Deuteronomy  has  been 
regarded  as  the  great  close  which  was  appended  to  D^ 
some  time.  Wellhausen  considers  that  the  author  of 
this  chapter  is  not  the  same  as  that  one  who  added  D^ 
(v.-xi.)  as  a  preface  to  D\  But  in  this  view  he  is  not 
sustained  by  the  majority  of  authorities  among  higher 
critics,  such  as  Kuenen  and  Graf  and  Klostermann  and 
Hollenberg.  These  latter  attribute  this  twenty-eighth 
chapter  to  the  author  of  D^*  We  have  shown  in  our 
**Tora  of  Moses"  that  the  greater  part  of  this  chapter, 
which  contains  the  threatened  punishments  for  Israel  in 
case  of  disobedience,  furnishes  the  section  of  the  Mo- 
saic Tora  upon  "Disobedience  and  Punishment,''  giv- 
ing two  accounts  of  the  same. 

A  chapter  which  has  been  brought  into  comparison 
with  this  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Deuteronomy  is  the 
twenty-sixth  chapter  of  Leviticus.  We  will  now  quote 
Kuenen  in  regard  to  this  latter  chapter.  He  says:  ''It 
is  otherwise  with  the  concluding  discourse  in  Leviticus 
xxvi.  3-45.  Here,  too,  Moses  is  the  speaker,  the  con- 
quest of  the  land  is  in  the  future,  Israel's  attitude  toward 
Yahweh's  ordinances  and  judgments  is  uncertain,  and 
so  forth.  But  involuntarily,  the  author,  like  the  writer 
of  Deuteronomy  xxix.  sq.,  iv.  sqq.,  etc.,  allows  his  own 
historical  position  to  shine  through.  He  knows  that  Is- 
rael has  sacrificed  on  bamoth  and  in  sanctuaries,  has 
reared  chammanim,  and  served  idols  (v.  30  sq.).  He 
not  only  anticipates  the  dispersion  of  Israel,  and  the  dev- 
astation of  his  land  (v.  30),  but  can  regard  this  depop- 
ulation and  lying  fallow  of  the  land  as  the  penalty  for 
the  neglect  of  the  sabbath  law,  as  the  payment  in  full 
of  what  the  soil  owes  to  Yahweh  (34,  35,  43).  This 
last  trait  is  decisive.     The  trespass  could  not  be  assumed 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND    PUNISHMENT.  97 

as  a  fact  when  the  law  had  only  just  been  given,  nor 
even  while  it  was  still  open  to  observe  it,  though  it  had 
already  been  neglected  for  some  time.  We  cannot  fail 
to  recognize,  under  the  form  of  prophecy,  the  writer's 
account  of  the  fact  which  he  actually  witnessed — the 
land  lying  fallow."     (Hexateuch,  p.  283.) 

Reconstructive  criticism,  in  opposition  to  this  view, 
claims  that  this  chapter  in  Leviticus,  with  most  of  what 
remained  in  Deuteronomy  xxviii.  after  that  has  been  re- 
moved which  belonged  to  the  two  copies  of  the  Mosaic 
Tora,  furnishes  the  material  out  of  which  the  section 
upon  "Disobedience  and  Punishment"  in  the  Sinaitic 
Tora  is  restored.  The  producing  of  this  part  of  the  Si- 
naitic Tora  in  two  copies  from  these  portions  will  estab- 
lish this  view. 

To  dogmatic  theologians  we  owe  that  artificial  con- 
ception of  the  history  of  Israel  which  requires  the  mar- 
velous to  be  present  at  every  step  in  the  national  unfold- 
ing. Hence  arose  that  theory  of  the  inspiration  of  the 
Scriptures  which  demanded  that  the  words  of  the  writ- 
ers be  given  in  such  a  mode  as  would  allow  basis  for 
verbal  inspiration.  This  view  is  erroneous.  No  national 
life  ever  developed  more  normally  than  that  of  Israel. 
The  literature  of  this  people  will  bear  out  this  asser- 
tion. The  first  section  in  this  part  upon  ''Disobedience 
and  Punishment "  in  the  Sinaitic  Tora  has  reference  to 
"  Pride  of  Heart."  Its  phrasing  reflects  by  contrast  the 
life  that  Israel  had  led  in  the  desert.  They  had  dwelt  in 
tents.  They  were  to  enter  a  land  whose  inhabitants  lived 
in  houses.  The  trees  and  the  shrubs  of  the  desert  fur- 
nished little  of  desirable  food ;  but  in  the  land  to  which 
they  were  to  come  abounded  olive  groves  and  vineyards. 
No  orator  could  have  shown  greater  skill  in  the  mode  of 

7 


98  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

his  utterance  than  Moses  when  he  uttered  the  closing 
words  of  this  Sinaitic  law. 

PRIDE  OF  HEART  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
^5       (And  it  shall  come  to  pass),  when  Jehovah 
shall  bless    thee   with    blessings   in  the    land 
which  Jehovah  thy  God  shall  give  thee  for  an 


6 ; 
10 


inheritance   to    possess   it  to  give    thee   great 


and    goodly  houses  which  thou  buildest  not, 

11  and  houses  filled  with  goodly  things  which 
thou  filledst  not,  and  wells  digged  which 
thou  diggedst  not,  vineyards  and  olive  trees 
which  thou  plantedest  not,   when    thou    hast 

12  eaten  and  art  full,  beware  lest  thou  forget 
Jehovah    which    brought    thee    forth    out    of 

J?  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage,  and  thou 
say  in  thine  heart,  My  power  and  the  might 
of  my  hand  hath  gotten  me  this  wealth. 

The  paragraph  is  practically  a  universal  truth  with 
Israelitish  local  coloring.  The  elements  are  accession 
to  power,  emergence  into  wealth,  the  dangers  which 
lead  to  the  admonition  **  Beware.''  It  needed  no  proph- 
et who  had  been  in  some  kind  of  solemn  conclave  with 
the  Almighty,  different  from  what  was  allowed  to  his 
fellows,  to  formulate  this  truth.  Only  the  seer's  inlook 
into  the  past  of  the  nations  in  which  he  had  been,  or  of 
which  he  had  heard,  was  required.  The  same  remarks 
apply  to  all  that  follows.  To  formulate  it  as  Moses  did 
needed  as  a  precedent  condition  a  sublime  faith  in  Je- 
hovah such  as  Moses  possessed  from  the  time  he  re- 
ceived his  call  to  lead  his  people  out  of  Egypt. 

PRIDE  OF  HEART  ACCORDING  TO  E. 
j^       Beware  that  thou  forget  not  Jehovah  thy 
God  in  not  keeping  his  commandments  and  his 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND   PUNISHMENT.  99 

judgments  and  his  statutes  which  I  command 
if  you  this  day,  lest  thine  heart  be  lifted  up,  and 

thou  forget  Jehovah  thy  God  which  brought 

thee  forth  out  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of 
'2  bondage,  when  thou  dwellest  in  the  land  which 

Jehovah  sware  unto  thy  fathers,  to  Abraham, 
yl  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  to  give  them,  and  when 

thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full,  and  hast  goodly 
il  houses  and  dwell  therein,  and  thy  herds  and 

thy  flocks  multiply,  and  thy  silver  and  thy  gold 

abound,  and  all  that  thou  hast  is  increased. 

This  section  of  E  resembles  closely  that  of  J,  exhib- 
iting the  same  informing  spirit,  yet  with  such  variations 
as  save  the  passage  from  the  charge  of  being  identical. 
These  differences  are  of  vital  importance  when  the  ques- 
tion of  the  credibility  of  these  two  copies  as  witnesses 
to  the  antiquity  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora  comes  up  for  con- 
sideration. 

The  announcement  of  the  first  triad  of  punishments 
is  the  next  section  of  this  tora.  Higher  criticism  re- 
gards these  utterances  and  similar  ones  as  the  observa- 
tions of  later  times  placed  back  in  the  Mosaic  era,  and  so 
given  the  character  of  a  prediction.  The  view  is  quite  as 
tenable  as  that  one  held  by  certain  Christian  scholars 
who  consider  these  words  and  others  of  similar  char- 
acter as  the  prophet's  look  down  the  centuries,  foresee- 
ing the  events  which  were  then  to  occur.  The  fact  is 
that  these  words  are  predictive  in  the  same  sense  that 
scientists  often  predict  occurrences,  simply  because  they 
know  the  natural  laws  and  their  working.  Moses  had 
faith  in  the  sure  working  of  law  in  national  life.  He 
knew  that  as  soon  as  the  uniting  force  of  a  nation  was 
dissolved  all  evils  came  upon  that  people.     Those  he 


lOO  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

announces  are  such  as  had  come  to  other  nations.  Is- 
rael's leader  saw  these  come  to  his  people  only  when 
they  departed  from  their  God.  This  alone  is  the  new 
element  in  these  words  of  Moses  which  recount  the  dis- 
asters that  follow  upon  infidelity  to  Jehovah. 

FIRST  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

L  2?       But  if  ye  walk  contrary  to  me  (saith  Jeho- 

L  2^  vah),  and  will  not  hearken  unto  me,  then  also 

I  will  walk  contrary  to  you  and  will  punish 

22  you  seven  times  for  your  sins.     Jehovah  will 
smite  thee  with  consumption  and  a  fever  and 

^  inflammation  and  extreme  burning.     He  will 

23  bring  upon  thee  the  plague.     Thy  heavens  that 
are  above  thy  head  shall  be  brass,  and  thy  earth 

L  26  that  is  under  thee  shall  be  iron.     Then  they 
shall  deliver  your  bread  by  weight. 

The  three  punishments  in  the  paragraph  are  easily 
separable.  They  are  sickness,  the  failure  of  crops 
through  pests  or  the  east  wind's  smiting,  or  the  absence 
of  the  refreshing  rains  in  their  season.  How  this  as- 
sumption of  the  tora  is  to  be  adjusted  to  the  impartial 
operation  of  natural  law  will  puzzle  the  scientists ;  but 
can  these  men,  wise  in  the  knowledge  of  the  natural 
law,  tell  when  the  cyclone  cometh,  or  when  the  east 
wind  will  blow  disaster  to  the  growth  of  the  fields? 
Scientific  explanation  of  these  occurrences  follows  close 
on  to  their  appearing,  but  not  before  their  arrival  are 
they  announced  by  the  scientist.  Accept  the  God  of 
the  Hebrews  as  Moses  revealed  him  to  Israel,  and  we 
may  not  deny  that  he  can  attach  these  penalties  to  dis- 
obedience, if  so  be  his  will. 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND   PUNISHMENT.  lOI 

FIRST  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  E. 
L  27        But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto  me,  but  will 
L  2I  walk  contrary  to  me,  then  also  I  will  walk  con- 
trary unto  you  in  fury,  and  I,  even  I  (saith  Je- 
hovah), will  chastise  you  for  your  sins  seven 
L  16  times.     I  will  appoint  over  you  consumption, 
L  25  burning  ague,  and  terror.     I  will  send  among 
L  19  you  the  plague.     I  will  make  your  heavens  as 
L  26  brass   and  your  earth   as   iron.     And  when  I 
have  broken  the  staff  of  bread  among  you,  ten 
women  shall  bake  your  bread  in  one  oven,  and 
ye  shall  eat  and  not  be  satisfied. 

Several  differences  appear  in  this  part  between  the 
two  copies.  The  three  punishments  are  the  same ;  but 
in  E  the  announcement  is  in  the  first  person,  while  in  J 
the  third  is  employed.  Then  the  description  of  the  lack 
of  bread  is  given  most  graphically  in  E.  So  little  will 
be  the  supply  in  Israel  that  ten  women  can  bake  it  all 
in  one  oven. 

The  second  triad  of  punishments  relates  to  those  in- 
flictions which  come  through  war;  the  hard  distresses, 
which  a  stronger  people  bring  upon  those  whom  they 
conquer.  More  pitiless  is  the  oppressive  hand  of  man 
than  the  powers  of  nature,  whether  through  her  disease 
comes,  or  plague,  or  drought.  It  is  not  new  that  the 
miseries  of  war  lead  to  famine  in  a  city,  or  to  a  foreign 
ruler;  but  it  is  otherwise  with  the  assertion  that  faith 
in  Jehovah  will  avert  these  misfortunes.  In  this  new 
element  the  Mosaic  threatenings  have  a  most  significant 
interest  for  mankind. 

SECOND  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
L  g^  25      The  rabble  of  the  field,  thou  shalt  go  out 
one  way  against  them  and  flee  seven  ways  be- 


I02  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

53  fore  them.  Thou  shalt  eat  the  fruit  of  thine 
own  body,  the  flesh  of  thy  sons  and  thy  daugh- 
ters, in  the  straightness  wherewith  thine  ene- 
L  mies  shall  distress  thee.  And  ye  shall  sow 
your  seed  in  vain,  for  your  enemies  shall  eat  it. 

II  And  he  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  thy  cattle  and  the 
fruit  of  thy  land. 

The  Authorized  Version  uses  the  words  **  wild  beasts'' 
where  we  have  employed  the  expression  *' rabble  of 
the  field."  The  three  punishments  are  defeat,  the 
stress  of  the  siege,  and  the  foreign  ruler.  Israel  had 
won  only  one  signal  victory  at  the  time  these  words 
were  uttered  to  them.  The  Amalekites  had  been  de- 
stroyed and  their  land  possessed.  Now  Israel  was  to 
be  prepared  in  the  Sinaitic  peninsula  by  a  fort}'-  years' 
sojourn  to  go  forward  to  conquest.  Moses  in  this  Si- 
naitic Tora  tells  them  that  surely  the  distresses  of  de- 
feat will  come  to  them  if  ever  they  depart  from  Jehovah 
their  God  in  the  coming  days. 

SECOND  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

l|5  And  ye  shall  have  no  power  to  stand  before 
L  af  your  enemies.  When  ye  are  gathered  togeth- 
L  29  er  within  your  cities,  ye  shall  eat  the  flesh  of 

your  sons  and  ye  shall  eat  the  flesh  of  your 

^  L  17  daughters  in  the  siege.     They  that  hate  you 

L  f^  shall  rule  over  you,  who  shall  rob  you  of  your 

children  and  destroy  your  cattle. 

The  three  punishments  are  those  which  we  found  re- 
counted in  J.  The  wording  varies,  but  not  the  import 
of  the  section. 

The  seventh  punishment  which  is  threatened  in  this 
tora  is  deportation  to  foreign  lands  from  the  country 


DISOBEDIENCE   AND   PUNISHMENT.  IO3 

which  Israel  should  possess.  This  meant  simply  the 
destruction  of  national  life.  Higher  criticism  sees  in 
this  punishment  surest  evidence  that  the  writer  was  one 
who  was  in  exile  and  beheld  what  is  here  recorded,  and 
who  wished  to  impress  his  readers  with  the  faith  that 
such  punishment  was  the  reward  of  disobedience  to  Je- 
hovah, and  in  order  to  give  his  teaching  impressive  au- 
thority places  the  evil  that  Israel  was  under  in  their  ex- 
ile as  a  prediction  given  by  Moses  to  the  children  of 
Israel.  It  needed  no  prophetic  outlook  to  know  that 
this  evil  of  deportation  might  come  to  any  nation  in 
the  future,  if  it  was  subdued  by  a  more  powerful  one. 
This  was  incident  to  national  existence,  and  Moses  in 
Egypt  had  beheld  Pharaoh  subdue  nations  and  exile 
them.  But  the  fundamental  theory  of  national  strength 
in  Israel,  as  taught  by  Moses,  was  that  it  was  found  in 
Jehovah.  Departure  from  him  meant  national  weak- 
ness. The  generalizations  in  this  seventh  punishment, 
as  well  as  those  in  the  preceding  triad,  could  have  been 
made  by  any  great  observing  and  reflective  mind. 

THE  SEVENTH  PUNISHMENT  ACCORDING  TO  J, 

27      Jehovah  will  scatter  you  among  the  nations, 

L  II  and   ye  shall   be  left  few  in  number,  and  the 

sound  of  a  shaken  leaf  shall  chase  them.    And 

they  shall  flee  as  fleeing  before  a  sword,  and 

2J  they  shall  fall  when  none  pursue.     And  ye 

5^  L  38  SHALL  SERVE   GODS,  wood  and  stonc.      And 

L  ^  ye   shall  perish  among  the  heathen.      Then 

THE     LAND      SHALL     ENJOY     HER     SABBATHS, 

when  she  lieth  desolate  without  them. 

It  is  a  deft  touch  which  describes  the  pitiful  fear  of 
the  few  Israelites  who  should  wander  captives  in  for- 


I04  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

eign  lands.  So  timorous  are  these  to  be  that  **  the  sound 
of  a  shaken  leaf  shall  chase  them."  These  inimitable 
strokes  in  the  picturing  of  both  toras  show  clearly  a 
master's  hand  present  in  each. 

THE  ELEVENTH  PUNISHMENT  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

L  ^      And  I  will  scatter  you  among  the  heathen, 
L  22  and   I  will  make  you  few  in  number.      And 
2I 27  there,    among   the   heathen  whither  Jehovah 
28  shall  lead  you,  ye  shall  serve  gods,  wood 
and  stone,  which  neither  see  nor  hear  nor  eat 
L  36  nor  smell.      And    I   will  send   a   faintness  in 
their  hearts  in  the  land  of  their  enemies  upon 
L  3?  them  that  are  left  of  you,  and  they  shall  fall 
upon    one  another  as  it  were   before  a  sword 
L  38  when  none  pursueth.      And  the  land  of  your 
L  2  enemies  shall   eat  you  up.      And  then  the 
LAND  shall  be  left  of  them,  and  shall  en- 
joy her  sabbaths. 

The  copy  of  E  depicts  the  few  remaining  Israelites 
in  captivity  as  possessing  an  abject  fear.  But  a  com- 
pletely different  image  is  used  to  illustrate  its  working  in 
them.  These  poor  captives  shall  be  so  timorous  that  they 
shall  "  fall  upon  one  another  as  it  were  before  a  sword," 
although  no  immediate  danger  faces  them.  They  shall 
ever  be  dreading  peril,  so  fearful  is  their  heart. 

Israel  survives  unto  our  day.  Each  century  of  the 
past,  since  they  were  deported  among  the  nations,  has 
witnessed  special  persecutions,  and  in  some  places  so 
venomous  that  it  would  seem  that  this  people  must  be 
exterminated  root  and  branch.  Still  Israel  survives. 
Their  fertile  land  lies  desolate.  Its  plains,  once  the  gar- 
den spot  of  the  East,  are  scantily  cultivated.    The  land 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND    PUNISHMENT.  IO5 

is  unloved  by  the  rulers  therein  and  Israel's  remnant, 
the  few  who  live  in  Palestine,  are  the  most  pitiable  of 
the  stock.  Yet  Israel's  faith,  not  their  mode  of  wor- 
ship, has  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  Gentiles. 
The  Scriptures,  which  Israel  rightly  calls  her  own,  are 
the  guide  of  the  faith  of  the  world  to-day.  The  Roman 
has  perished  from  off  the  face  of  the  earth.  So  too  the 
Grecian  and  the  Mede  and  Persian,  also  the  proud  As- 
syrian as  well  as  the  Egyptian.  They  all  have  passed 
away  from  among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  But  the 
Jews  are  in  the  midst  of  every  nation:  living  among 
other  peoples,  yet  never  absorbed,  never  losing  their 
national  feeling  and  characteristics.  Verily  had  they 
perished,  then  too  would  their  faith  have  been  lost  to 
men. 

After  the  Sinaitic  Tora  announces  the  seven  punish- 
ments which  shall  come  upon  Israel  if  they  depart  from 
Jehovah,  the  hope  of  a  promise  is  extended  to  them  if 
they  return  to  faithful  allegiance  to  Jehovah. 

REPENTANCE  AND  FA  VOR  ACCORDING  TO  /. 
L  ^5      Then     if     their    uncircumcised    hearts    be 
humbled,  and  they  accept  the  punishment  of 

2J  their  iniquity  because  of  the  wickedness  of  thy 

%  doings  whereby  thou  hast  forsaken  me  be- 
cause thou  wouldst  not  obey  the  voice  of  Je- 

at  hovah  thy  God,  then  he  will  not  forget  the 
covenant  of  thy  fathers,  which  he  sware  unto 
them,  and  he  will  not  forsake  thee  nor  destroy 
thee,  for  Jehovah  thy  God  is  a  merciful  God, 

\  who  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
out  of  the  house  of  bondage. 

The  tender  love  of  God  for  his  people  none  could 
have  understood  better  than  Moses;   for  this  leader's 


I06  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

love  for  Israel  was  marvelous.  Amid  all  their  wrong- 
doings Moses  still  pleaded  for  them.  He  was  verily  a 
good  shepherd,  who  watched  over  the  flock.  Not 
strange  is  it  that  from  his  lips  should  come  to  Israel 
words  of  promise,  even  though  the  most  direful  distress 
should  visit  the  people  because  of  their  unfaithfulness. 

REPENTANCE  AND  FA  VOR  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

L  ^  And  (if)  they  shall  accept  the  punishment 
of  their  iniquity  because  they  despised  my 
judgments,  and  because  their  soul  abhorred  my 
30  statutes,  and  if  thou  turn  to  Jehovah  thy  God 
and  shall  be  obedient  to  his  voice,  when  thou 
art    in  tribulation,    and   all    these    things    are 

L  4I  come  upon  thee  in  the  latter  day,  then  I  will 
for  their  sakes  remember  the  covenant  of  their 
ancestors  which  I  brought  forth  out  of  Egypt 
in  the  sight  of  the  heathen,  that  I  might  be 
their  God. 

Some  expressions  in  E  are  new,  such  as  **  tribula- 
tion" and  *' latter  day."  But  the  change  in  the  atti- 
tude of  God  toward  repentant  Israel  is  expressed  in  both 
J  and  E  as  a  remembrance  of  the  covenant  made  with 
their  forefathers. 

The  Sinaitic  Tora  closes  with  a  beautiful  passage,  ex- 
horting Israel  to  faithfulness  in  keeping  these  command- 
ments of  Jehovah.  To  conform  to  these  precepts  is  to 
be  upright  before  Jehovah.  Hence  comes  that  word 
which  had  such  import  in  later  prophecies  and  psalms. 
Israel  as  obedient  was  the  upright. 

CLOSING  EXHORTATION  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

^       Observe  and  hear  all  these  words  which  I 
command   thee  this  day,  that  it  may  go  well 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND   PUNISHMENT.  IO7 

with  thee  and  thy  children  after  thee  forever, 
}*  in  the  land  that  Jehovah  thy  God  giveth  thee 
28  to  possess  it,  because  thou  doest  good  and  right 
32  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah  thy  God.  Thou  shalt 
5?  not  add  thereto  nor  diminish  therefrom.      For 

this  command  w^hich  I  command  thee  this  day 
?2  was  not  hidden  from  thee.     It  was  not  in  the 

heavens,  that  thou  shouldst  say,  Who  shall  go 

up  to  heaven  to  bring  it  down  to  us,  that  we 
1$  may  hear  and  do  it  ?     But  the  word  is  in  thy 

mouth  and  in  thy  heart,  that  thou  mayest  do  it. 

This  closing  paragraph  defines  the  clear  difference 
between  all  other  nations  and  Israel  in  matters  relating 
to  God.  For  other  nations  the  word  was  hidden.  Their 
seers  had  to  ascend  into  the  heavens  and  bring  down 
knowledge.  Israel,  on  the  contrary,  had  the  word 
given  to  them ;  it  was  as  if  in  their  mouths  and  in  their 
hearts.  To  Israel  alone  was  vouchsafed  revelation,  as 
understood  in  the  theology  of  the  Christian  Church. 

CLOSING  EXHORTATION  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

32  Observe  to  do  whatsoever  I  have  command- 
}|  ed  you  this  day,  in  order  to  do  right  in  the  eyes 
15  of  Jehovah  thy  God,   in  order  that   thy  days 

may  be  lengthened  in  the  land  which  Jehovah 
2  thy  God  giveth  thee.     Ye  shall  not  add  unto 

the  word  which  I  have  commanded  you,  nor 

I  diminish  from  it.     For  all  this  law  which  I  set 

5J^  S  before  you  this  day,  it  is  not  far  off.     It  is  not 

beyond  the  sea,  that  thou  shouldst  say,  Who 

shall  go  over  the  sea  for  us  and  bring  it  to  us 
14  that  we  may  hear  and  do  it  ?  But  very  nigh  thee 
E  ^9  is  the  law  of  Jehovah,  even  in  thy  mouth. 

The  unique  similarity  of  this  closing  exhortation  in 


Io8  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

the  two  copies  has  an  especial  charm.  Each  gives  the 
condition  upon  which  Israel  may  claim  to  be  upright  in 
the  eyes  of  Jehovah.  Each  makes  continuance  in  the 
land  of  promise  depend  upon  the  same  manner  of  con- 
duct. Each  regards  the  commandments  as  near  by, 
even  in  the  mouth.  Yet  with  this  likeness  there  is  not 
a  tedious  repetition,  but  a  free  and  independent  mode 
of  expression  in  each  copy. 

We  have  brought  to  a  close  our  investigations  respect- 
ing the  Sinaitic  Tora.  According  to  our  statement  in 
the  early  pages  of  this  volume  we  have  produced  two 
copies  of  this  tora,  each  consistent  with  the  other,  with- 
out contradictions  or  redactions.  The  only  liberty  which 
reconstructive  criticism  has  taken  is  the  right  to  rear- 
range the  text.  Yet  this  right  is  not  unreasonable,  since 
higher  criticism  has  proved  incontestably  that  the  great- 
est confusion  exists  in  the  text  of  Exodus-Deuteronomy. 
The  result  which  we  have  reached  is  most  remarkable, 
since  in  our  *'Tora  of  Moses"  we  took  from  Exodus- 
Deuteronomy  a  complete  code  of  civil  and  religious 
laws,  and  gave  it  in  two  copies.  Now  to  have  restored 
from  what  remained  another  code,  confirming  the  Mo- 
saic code  in  every  great  feature,  and  producing  also  of 
this  Sinaitic  code  two  copies,  is  to  have  given  such 
proof  of  the  theory  of  reconstructive  criticism  as  ought 
to  win  recognition  and  belief. 


CHAPTER  XL 

COMPARATIVE  VIEW  OF  THE  TWO  COPIES. 

PREFATORY  STATEMENT. 

J.  E. 

These  are  the  statutes  and  These  are  the  command- 
judgments  and  laws  which  ments  and  statutes  and  judg- 
Jehovah  made  between  him  ments  which  Jehovah  com- 
and  the  children  of  Israel  in  manded  Moses  for  the  chil- 
mount  Sinai  by  the  hand  of  dren  of  Israel  in  mount  Sinai. 
Moses. 

THE  CHOSEN  PEOPLE. 

J.  E. 

Now  therefore  hearken,  O  Hear,  O  Israel,  Ye  stand 
Israel,  Ye  stand  this  day  this  day  before  Jehovah 
BEFORE  Jehovah  your  God,  your  God,  all  the  men  of  Is- 
all  of  you,  your  captains  of  rael,  elders  of  your  tribes  and 
your  tribes,  your  elders,  and  officers.  And  he  hath  chosen 
your  officers.  He  chose  thee  thee  to  be  a  peculiar  people 
to  be  a  special  people  to  him-  unto  himself  above  all  the  na- 
self  above  all  the  people  that  tions  of  the  earth.  And  Jeho- 
are  upon  the  face  of  the  earth,  vah  took  you  and  brought  you 
Jehovah  did  not  set  his  love  forth  out  of  the  iron  furnace 
upon  you  nor  choose  you  be-  of  Egypt  with  signs  and  won- 
cause  you  were  more  in  num-  ders  and  an  outstretched  arm 
bers  than  any  other  people ;  to  be  a  people  of  inheritance 
for  ye  were  the  fewest  of  all  unto  him  as  at  this  day ;  for 
people.  But  because  Jeho-  Jehovah  thy  God  loved  thee, 
vah  loved  you  and  because  he  And  Jehovah  thy  God  hath 
would  keep  the  oath  which  he   kept    the    covenant    and    the 


no  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

J.  E. 

had  sworn  unto  your  fathers,   mercy  which   he    sware   unto 

hath  Jehovah  with  a  mighty   thy  fathers, 
hand  brought   you   out  from 
the  hand  of  Pharaoh,  king  of 
Egypt,  and  redeemed  you  out 
of  the  house  of  bondage. 

DEEDS  OF  JEHOVAH, 
J.  E. 

And  ye  know  his  greatness        And   remember   well  what 

and  his  miracles  and  his  acts,  Jehovah  thy  God  did  unto 
which  he  did  unto  Pharaoh,  Pharaoh  and  all  Egypt,  the 
king  of  Egypt,  and  all  his  chastisements  of  Jehovah 
land.  And  Jehovah  thy  God  your  God,  his  mighty  hand 
brought  thee  out  thence  and  his  outstretched  arm  in  the 
through  a  mighty  hand  and  midst  of  Egypt.  And  Jeho- 
an  outstretched  arm.  And  vah  overthrew  the  Egyptians 
what  he  did  unto  the  army  of  in  the  midst  of  the  sea,  all 
Egypt,  unto  their  horses  and  Pharaoh's  horses,  his  chariots 
to  their  chariots,  how  he  made  and  his  horsemen.  And  your 
the  waters  of  the  Red  Sea  to  eyes  have  seen  all  the  great 
overflow  them  as  they  pur-  acts  of  Jehovah  w^hich  he  has 
sued  after  you,  and  Jehovah  done.  What  he  did  unto 
destroyed  them.  And  what  the  sons  of  Eliab,  the  son  of 
HE  did  unto  Dathan  and  Abi-  Reuben,  then  the  earth  opened 
ram,  how  the  earth  opened  up  her  mouth  and  swallowed 
her  mouth  and  swallowed  them  and  their  tents  and  all 
them  up  and  their  house-  their  substance  that  was  in 
holds.  And  what  he  did  unto  their  possession  in  the  midst  of 
you  in  the  wilderness,  he  who  all  Israel.  And  I  led  you  in 
led  thee  through  that  great  the  wilderness,  and  Jehovah 
waterless  wilderness.  Thy  thy  God,  who  brought  thee 
raiment  waxed  not  old  upon  forth  water  out  of  the  flinty 
thee,  neither  did  thy  foot  swell,  rock,  knew  thy  walkings 
And  Jehovah  TALKED  with  through  that  great  and  terri- 
You  face  to  face  in  the  mount  ble  desert  where  there  were 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  Ill 

J.  E. 

out  of  the  midst  of  fire  in  the   fiery   serpents  and    scorpions 

day  of  the  assembly.  Be-  and  drought.  Ye  ate  no 
hold,  the  heavens  and  the  bread,  and  ye  drank  no  strong 
heaven  of  the  heavens  is  Je-  drink,  your  clothes  v^axed  not 
hovah's  thy  God;  and  the  old,  and  thy  shoe  waxed  not 
earth  also,  with  aU  that  is  old  upon  thy  foot.  And  Je- 
therein.  hovah    talked   with    you 

HERE  in  the  mount  out  of  the 
midst  of  fire.  And  Jehovah 
is  thy  God,  he  is  thy  praise, 
that  hath  done  for  thee  these 
great  and  terrible  things  which 
thine  eyes  have  seen. 

THE  LAND  OF  PROMISE. 
J.  E. 

And  ye  shall  go  in  and  pos-  Thou  shalt  go  in  and  pos- 
sess the  land  which  Jehovah  sess  the  good  land,  which  Je- 
sware  unto  your  fathers  to  give  hovah  sware  unto  thy  fathers, 
them  and  their  seed,  a  land  a  land  that  floweth  with  milk 
that  floweth  with  milk  and  and  honey.  And  Jehovah  thy 
honey.  And  Jehovah  will  God  will  be  among  you,  to 
drive  out  the  nations  from  be-  cast  out  all  thine  enemies  be- 
fore you,  and  ye  shall  possess  fore  thee  as  Jehovah  hath 
greater  nations  and  mightier  spoken,  to  drive  out  nations 
than  yourselves.  Thou  shalt  before  thee  greater  and 
not  be  afraid  of  them  ;  for  Je-  mightier  than  thou,  to  bring 
hovah  thy  God  is  among  you,  thee  in,  to  give  thee  their  land 
the  God  of  gods,  a  mighty  for  an  inheritance.  If  thou 
God,  and  terrible  ;  and  he  shall  shalt  say  in  thine  heart,  These 
deliver  them  into  thy  hands,  nations  are  more  than  I,  how 
and  thou  shalt  destroy  them  can  I  dispossess  them  ?  still 
with  a  mighty  destruction,  thou  shalt  not  be  affrighted  at 
And  ye  shall  possess  it  and  them  ;  for  Jehovah  your  God 
dwell  therein.  is  Lord  of  lords,  a  great  God, 


112  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

J.  E. 

mighty   and   terrible,   and   he 

shall  deliver  their  kings  into 
thy  hand,  and  thou  shalt  de- 
stroy them  and  their  name 
from  under  heaven.  And 
thou  shalt  possess  it  and 
dwell  therein. 

TRANSITIONAL  PARAGRAPH. 

J.  E, 

Thou  shalt  keep   his  com-        Ye     shall     observe     to    do 

mandments  which  I  command  therefore    as    Jehovah     your 

thee  this  day,  and  thou  shalt  God  hath  commanded  you  this 

not  turn  aside  from  any  of  the  day.     Ye  shall  not  turn  aside 

words  which  I  command  thee  to  the  right  hand  or  the  left. 

to  the  right  hand  or  to  the  left,  Ye  shall  walk  in  all  the  ways 

that  it  might  be  well  with  thee  which  Jehovah  your  God  com- 

in  the  land  whither  thou  shalt  mandeth  you,  that  ye  may  live 

go  to  possess  which  Jehovah  and  go  in  and  possess  the  land 

sware  unto  thy  fathers  to  give  which  Jehovah  God  of  your 

thee.  fathers  giveth  you. 

FIRST  TABLE, 
J.  E. 

I.  I. 

Thou  shalt  fear  Jehovah  Thou  shalt  fear  Jehovah  thy 
thy  God,  and  serve  him,  and  God,  and  serve  him,  and  swear 
swear  by  his  name.  by  his  name. 

II-  ir. 

And  ye  shall  love  the  stran-  Love  the  stranger, 
ger. 

III.  ni- 

Ye  shall  make  no  idols.  Turn  ye  not  unto  idols. 

IV.  IV. 

Ye  shall  not  swear  by  my  Ye  shall  not  profane  my 
name  falsely.  holy  name. 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  IIJ 

J.  E. 

V.  V. 

Ye  shall  keep  my  sabbaths  Ye  shall  keep  my  sabbaths 

and  reverence  my  sanctuary,  and  reverence  my  sanctuary, 

SECOND  TABLE, 

J.  E. 

VI.  VI. 

He  who  curseth  his  father  He  that  curseth  his  father 

or  his  mother  shall  surely  be  or  his  mother  shall  surely  be 

put  to  death.  put  to  death. 

VII.  VII. 
Whosoever    lieth    carnally  Thou  shalt  not  lie  carnally 

with    a   w^oman,  betrothed  to  with    thy    neighbor's    wife; 

an    husband,    their    blood    be  they   shall    surely   be    put    to 

upon  them.  death. 

VIII.  VIII. 

The  murderer  shall  surely  The  murderer  shall  surely 

be  put  to  death.  be  put  to  death. 

IX.  IX. 

Ye  shall  not  steal.  Thou  shalt  do  no  robbery. 

X.  X. 

Ye    shall    do    no    unright-  Ye  shall  do  no  unrighteous- 

eousness  in  judgment.  ^ess  in  judgment. 

EXHOR  TA  TION. 

J.  E. 

Observe  to  do  and  to  keep  And  ye  shall   keep  all  the 

his    commandments    which    I  commandments  which  I  com- 

have    commanded    thee,    thou  mand  you ;  and  they  shall  be 

and  thy  son  and  thy  son's  son,  for  a  token  upon  thy  hand  and 

all  the  days  of  thy  life ;  and  for    frontlets    between    thine 

they  shall   be   for  a  sign   for  eyes,  that  Jehovah    thy  God 

thee  upon  thy  hand  and  for  a  may  bless  thee  in  all  the  works 

memorial  between  thine  eyes,  which  thou  doest,  and  that  ye 

that    thou    mayest    live    and  may  live  and  multiply,  and  be 
8 


114  "^^^  SINAITIC  TORA. 

J.  E. 

multiply,    and    that    Jehovah   strong  and  go  in  and  possess 

thy  God  may  bless  thee  in  the   the  land  whither  ye  go  to  pos- 

land  whither  thou  shalt  go  to   sess. 

possess,  and  that  thou  mayest 

possess  it. 

FIDELITT  TO  JEHOVAH. 
J.  E. 

Behold    I    set    before    thee        I  set  before  you  this  day  life 

this  day  life  and  death,  good  and  death,  blessing  and  curs- 
and  evil,  in  that  I  command  ing,  to  the  end  that  thou  may- 
Ihee  to  love  Jehovah  thy  God,  est  love  Jehovah  thy  God  and 
to  walk  in  his  ways,  and  to  obey  his  voice  and  cleave  unto 
keep  his  commandments.  But  him  ;  for  he  is  thy  life  and  the 
if  thine  heart  turn  away  so  length  of  thy  days.  But  if  ye 
that  thou  wilt  not  hear,  but  will  not  obey  the  command- 
shalt  be  drawn  away  and  wor-  ments  of  Jehovah  your  God, 
ship  other  gods,  I  denounce  and  ye  turn  aside  out  of  the 
you  this  day  that  ye  shall  sure-  way  which  I  command  you 
ly  perish,  and  he  shall  not  pro-  this  day,  to  go  after  other  gods 
long  your  days  upon  the  land  which  ye  have  not  known,  and 
whither  you  go  to  possess  serve  them,  then  ye  shall  ut- 
over  the  Jordan ;  for  I  Jeho-  terly  perish  from  off  the  land 
vah  thy  God  am  a  jealous  whither  ye  go  to  possess  over 
God,  visiting  the  iniquities  of  Jordan ;  and  ye  shall  not  pro- 
the  fathers  upon  the  children  long  your  days  upon  it,  but 
unto  the  third  and  fourth  gen-  shall  be  utterly  destroyed  ;  for 
eration  of  them  that  hate  me,  I  Jehovah  thy  God  am  a  jeal- 
and  showing  thousands  of  ous  God,  visiting  the  iniquities 
mercies  unto  those  that  love  of  the  fathers  upon  the  chil- 
me  and  keep  my  command-  dren  unto  the  third  and  fourth 
ments.  generation  of  them  that  hate 

me,  and  showing  a  thousand 
mercies  unto  them  that  love 
me  and  keep  my  command- 
ments. 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  II5 

GUEST-RIGHT  LA  W. 
J.  E. 

Thou   shalt    neither   vex    a        And  thou  shalt  not  oppress 

stranger  nor  oppress  him.   Ye  a  stranger.     One  law  and  one 

shall    have   one   law   for   him  manner  shall  be  for  you  and 

that  is  born  among  the  chil-  the  stranger   that    sojourneth 

dren    of    Israel    and    for    the  with  you ;  for  ye  were  stran- 

stranger    that     sojourneth  gers  in  the  land  of  Egypt. 

among    them ;     for    ye    were 

strangers    in    the   land   of 

Egypt. 

CONCERNING  IDOLATRT. 
J.  E. 

And     God     spake     all       And    God   spake    all 

THESE    WORDS,    SAYING  I    Ob-     THESE  WORDS,  SAYING  I   Only 

serve  that  which  I  command  if  thou  carefully  hearken  unto 
thee  this  day,  and  behold  I  the  voice  of  Jehovah  thy  God 
will  drive  out  the  Amorite  and  to  observe  to  do  all  these  com- 
the  Canaanite  and  the  Hivite  mandments  which  I  command 
and  the  Hittite  and  the  Periz-  thee  this  day,  will  I  drive  out 
zite  and  the  Jebusite.  Thou  the  Canaanite  and  the  Amorite 
shalt  make  no  covenant  with  and  the  Hittite  and  the  Periz- 
them  nor  with  their  gods,  nor  zite  and  the  Hivite  and  the 
shalt  thou  serve  them  ;  but  ye  Jebusite.  Thou  shalt  make  no 
shall  destroy  their  altars,  break  covenant  with  them,  nor  show 
down  their  images,  and  cut  them  mercy,  nor  do  after  their 
down  their  groves.  And  ye  works.  Thou  shalt  not  bow 
shall  be  holy.  down  to  their  gods,  but  thou 

shalt  quite  break  down  their 
images  and  utterly  overthrow 
them.  And  ye  shall  utterly 
destroy  all  the  places  where 
these  nations,  which  ye  shall 
possess, served  their  gods,upon 
the  high  mountains  and  upon 
the  hills  and  under  every  green 
tree.     And  ye  shall  be  holy. 


Il6  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

CONCERNING  APOSTAST. 

J.  E. 

Thou  shalt  not  set  thee  up  Ye  shall  not  make  with  me 

an  image,  which  Jehovah  thy  graven  image  nor  rear  you  up 

God  hateth,  saying :  Ye  shall  a  standing  image  nor  set  you 

not  make  with  me  gods  of  sil-  up  an  image  of  stone  in  your 

ver  nor   gods  of   gold.     And  land    to    bow    down    unto    it. 

take  heed  lest  there  be  among  And   whosoever  of    the   chil- 

you  man  or  woman  or  family  dren  of  Israel  or  the  stranger 

whose     heart     turneth     away  that    dwelleth    in    Israel   that 

from  Jehovah  thy  God  to  com-  giveth  his  seed  to  Moloch,  he 

mit  whoredom  with   Moloch,  shall  surely  be   put  to  death. 

Then  I  will  set  my  face  against  And  if  the  people  of  the  land 

that  soul  and  will  cut  him  off  do    anyways    hide    that    man 

from  among  his  people.    And  which  giveth  his  seed  to  Mo- 

thou  shalt  not  let  any  of  thy  loch  and  kill  him  not,  then  I 

seed  pass  through  to  Moloch,  will  set  my  face  against  that 

then  I  will  set  my  face  against  man  to  cut  him  off  from  among 

that  man  and  against  his  fami-  his    people.      Thou    shalt   not 

ly,  and  will  cut  him  off  from  suffer  a  witch  to   live.     And 

among  his  people  ;  because  he  the  soul  that  turneth  after  such 

hath  given  his  seed  unto  Mo-  as   have   familiar   spirits,  and 

loch.      A    man    or   a    woman  after  wizards  to  go  a  whoring 

that  hath  a  familiar  spirit  or  after   them,   they   shall   stone 

that  is  a  wizard,  and  all  that  them  with  stones, 
goeth  a  whoring  after  him,  the 
people  of  the  land  shall  stone 
them  with  stones, 

TUB  SABBATH. 

J.  E. 

Six  days  shalt  thou  work.  Six  days  shalt  thou  do  thy 

But  the  seventh  day  thou  shalt  work.     And    on   the   seventh 

rest,  and  thine  ox  and  thine  ass.  day  thou  shalt  rest,  and  thine 

It  is  a  sabbath  of  rest  for  you,  ox   and   thine  ass.      And   the 

for  thee  and  for  thy  servant,  son    of    thine    handmaid    and 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  II7 

J.  E. 

and  for  thy  maid  and  for  thy   the    stranger    shall    rest,    and 

hired     servant,    and    for    the    they  shall  be  refreshed. 

stranger  that  sojourneth  with 

thee. 

SABBATIC  TEAR. 
J.  E, 

The  land  shall  keep  a       And     the    land     shall 

sabbath  unto  Jehovah.     Thou    keep  a  sabbath  unto  Jehovah. 

shalt  neither  sow  thy  field  nor   Ye  shall  not  sow  and  ye  shall 

prune    thy     vineyard.      That   not  reap,  nor  gather  the  grapes 

which  eroweth  of  its  own  ac-   in  it  of  the  vine  undressed.    Ye 

cord  of  thy  harvest  thou  shalt   shall  eat  the  increase  thereof 

not   reap,   nor   gather   in   the   out  of  the  field.     That  which 

grapes  of  thy  vine  undressed,   groweth  by  itself  in  it  is  for 

It  is  a   year  of  rest  unto  the   the  stranger,  and  the  widow, 

land.     And  the  sabbath  of  the   and  the  fatherless  child.     And 

land  shall  be  meat  for  you,  for   if  ye  say.  What  shall  we  eat 

the  stranger,  and  the  widow,   the  seventh   year,  behold  we 

and  the  fatherless   child,  and   shall  not  sow  nor  gather  the 

for  thy  cattle.     And  the  land   increase   thereof,    then  I   will 

shall  yield   her   fruit,  and   ye   command  (saith  Jehovah)  my 

shall  eat   your  fill.     Ye  shall   blessings  upon  you  in  the  sixth 

eat  of  the  old  store  until  her   year,  and  it  shall  bring  forth 

fruits  come  in.  fruit  for  three  years.     And  ye 

shall  sow  the  eighth  year  and 

eat  of  the  old  fruit   until  the 

ninth  year. 

TEAR  OF  JUBILEE. 
J.  E. 

And  it  shall  come  to  pass.  And  it  shall  come  to  pass, 
when  thou  art  come  into  the  when  Jehovah  thy  God  shall 
land  which  Jehovah  thy  God  give  thee  rest  from  all  thine 
giveth  thee  for  an  inheritance  enemies  round  about  in  the 
and  thou  shalt  possess  it  and  land  which  Jehovah  thy  God 
dwell  therein,  then  thou  shalt   giveth  thee  for  an  inheritance 


Il8  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

J.  E. 

number     seven     sabbaths    of  to   possess  it,  then  the  space 

years   unto   thee   seven   times  of  seven  sabbaths  of  years  shall 

seven  years.     And  thou  shalt  be  unto  thee  forty-nine  years, 

cause  the  trumpet   of  jubilee  and  on  the  day  of  atonement 

to  sound  on  the  tenth  day  of  ye  shall  make  the  trumpet  to 

the  seventh  month.     And  ye  sound     throughout     all     your 

shall  proclaim  liberty  through  land.    It  shall  be  a  jubilee  unto 

the  land  unto  the  inhabitants  you,  and  ye  shall  return  every 

thereof.    In  this  year  of  jubilee  man  unto  his  family, 
every  man   shall   return  unto 
the  possession  of  his  fathers. 

THE  PASSOVER. 

J.  E. 

The  passover  ye  shall  keep        The  passover  ye  shall  keep 
it  in  his  appointed  season  ac-   it    according   to   all  the  cere- 
cording  to  all  the  rites   of    it   monies  thereof  at  even,  in  its 
at  even ;  for  in  the  month  of   appointed  season ;  for  in  the 
Abib  thou  camest  forth  out  of   month  of  Abib   thou  camest 
Egypt.     And  there  shall  be  no   out  of  Egypt.     Ye  shall  put 
leavened  bread  seen  with  thee,   away     leaven     out     of     your 
And  thou  shalt  show  thy  son   houses.     And  it  shall  come  to 
in  that  day,  saying,  It  is  the   pass  when  your  children  shall 
sacrifice  of  Jehovah's  passover,   say.  What  mean   ye   by  this 
who  passed   over  the   houses   service.^  then  ye  shall  say,  It 
of   the   children    of   Israel   in   is  Jehovah's  passover,  because 
Egypt,   when    he    smote    the   of  what  Jehovah  did  unto  me 
Egyptians  and   delivered  our   when   I  came  out  of   Egypt, 
houses.      Seven     days     thou   Then  it  came  to  pass,  when 
shalt   eat    unleavened    bread.   Pharaoh  would  hardly  let  the 
No  leaven  shall  be  found  in   people  go,  by  the  strength  of 
all   your  houses.     And   thou   the  hand  Jehovah  brought  us 
shalt  remember  thou  wert  a  out  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house 
bondman    in    Egypt.      Thou   of  bondage.     Seven  days  shall 
shalt    sacrifice    unto  Jehovah   ye  eat  unleavened  bread.     In 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  Up 

J.  E. 

thy    God    all     the    firstlings    all  your  habitations   ye  shall 

male    that  come  of  thy  herd   eat    nothing    leavened.     And 
and    thy    flock.     And    every    thou     shalt     remember    thou 
firstling  of  an  ass  thou  shalt    wast  a   bondman   in    Egypt, 
redeem  with  a  lamb.     And  if    And  thou  shalt  sanctify  unto 
thou  wilt  not  redeem  it,  thou  Jehovah  thy  God  every  first- 
shalt  break  his  neck.     And  all    ling  among  the  cattle,  whether 
the   firstborn  of  man  among   ox  or  sheep,  and  the  firstborn 
thy  children    thou    shalt    re-    of  an  ass   thou  shalt  redeem 
deem.     And  ye  shall  observe   with  a  lamb :  and  if  thou  re- 
this  thing  for  an  ordinance  for   deem  him  not,  then  thou  shalt 
thee  and  thy  sons  forever.         break  his  neck.     But  the  first- 
born of  man  thou  shalt  surely 
redeem.    And  ye  shall  keep  it  a 
feast  by  an  ordinance  forever. 

THE  THREE  ANNUAL  FEASTS. 
J.  E. 

Thrice  in  a  year  shall  all  Three  times  in  the  year  shalt 
your  male  children  appear  be-  thou  keep  a  feast  unto  me 
fore  Jehovah  thy  God.  Thou  the  God  of  Israel.  Thou  shalt 
shalt  bring  the  first  fruits  of  bring  the  first  fruits  of  the  land 
thy  land  unto  the  house  of  into  the  house  of  Jehovah  thy 
Jehovah  thy  God.  And  when  God.  When  thou  hast  gather- 
ye  have  gathered  in  the  fruit  ed  thy  labors  outof  the  field, 
of  thy  land  ye  shall  keep  a  then  ye  shall  keepit  a  feast  un- 
feast  unto  Jehovah  seven  to  Jehovah  seven  days  in  the 
days.  And  ye  shall  take  on  year.  And  all  that  are  Israel- 
the  first  day  branches  of  palm  ite  born  shall  dwell  in  booths 
trees  and  willows  of  the  brook,  of  the  boughs  of  goodly  trees 
and  ye  shall  dwell  in  booths  and  boughs  of  thick  trees, 
seven  days.  And  ye  shall  ob-  that  your  generations  may 
serve  the  day  of  atonement  know  that  I  made  the  children 
according  to  all  its  rites.  of  Israel  dwell  in  booths  when 


I20  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

J.  E. 

I  brought  them  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt.  Ye  shall  keep  the 
feast  of  the  atonement  unto 
Jehovah  thy  God  according 
to  all  the  ceremonies  thereof. 

CONCERNING  THE  PRIEST. 
J.  E. 

And  thou  shalt  appoint  Aa-        Thou   hast   separated  from 

ron  and  his  sons,  and  they  among  the  children  of  Israel 
shall  wait  upon  me  in  their  Aaron  and  his  sons,  and  the 
priest's  office.  And  they  shall  priest's  office  shall  be  theirs, 
not  profane  the  holy  things  And  they  shall  be  separated  as 
of  the  children  of  Israel  which  holy  from  among  the  children 
they  offer  unto  Jehovah.  of   Israel,  and  they  shall  not 

profane  my  holy  name  and  the 
holy  things  which  they  hallow 
unto  me. 

THE  LEVITES. 
J.  E. 

The    Levites   were    a    gift        And  thou  shalt  give  the  Le- 

unto  Aaron  and  his  sons  from  vites  unto  Aaron  and  his  sons  ; 
among  the  children  of  Israel,  they  shall  be  wholly  given 
And  they  shall  keep  his  charge  unto  him  from  among  the 
and  the  charge  of  the  whole  children  of  Israel.  And  they 
congregation  before  the  taber-  shall  keep  all  the  instruments 
nacle  of  the  congregation  to  of  the  tabernacle  of  the  con- 
do  the  service  of  the  taber-  gregation  and  the  charge  of 
nacle.  the   children   of    Israel   to   do 

the  service  of  the  tabernacle. 

THE  PLACE  OF  WORSHIP. 
J.  E. 

Take  heed  to  thyself  that        Ye  shall  not  do  after  that 

thou  offer  not  thy  burnt  offer-    which  we  do  here  this  day : 

ings    in    every    place,    where    every  man  whatsoever  is  right 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  121 

J.  E. 

thou  hast  visions,  but  there  is   in  his    own    eyes.     Ye    shall 

now  a  place  where  Jehovah  not  do  so  unto  Jehovah  your 
thy  God  chooseth  to  cause  his  God.  But  thou  shalt  offer 
name  to  dwell ;  there  thou  thy  burnt  offerings  before  Je- 
shalt  offer  thy  burnt  offerings,  hovah  thy  God  in  the  place 
and  there  thou  shalt  do  ac-  which  Jehovah  thy  God 
cording  to  all  that  I  have  com-  chooses  to  place  his  name  ; 
manded  thee.  And  thou  shalt  thither  shall  ye  bring  all  that 
eat  before  Jehovah  thy  God,  I  have  commanded  you.  And 
thou  and  thy  household,  and  there  ye  shall  eat  before  Je- 
thou  shalt  rejoice  in  all  that  hovah  your  God,  and  ye  shall 
thou  puttest  thine  hand  unto,     rejoice    in    all    that    you    put 

your  hand  to,  wherein  Jeho- 
vah thy  God  hath  blessed 
you,  ye  and  your  household, 

THE  UNCLEAN  ANIMALS. 

J.  E. 

These  are  the  beasts  which  This  is  the  law  of  the  beast 

shall  not  be  eaten  among  all  and  the  fowl  and  of  every  liv- 

the    beasts    that    are    on    the  ing   creature   that   moveth   in 

earth ;    as  the    camel,   for   he  the  waters  and  of  every  crea- 

cheweth  the  cud  and  divideth  ture  that  creepeth   upon    the 

the  hoof  and  is  cloven-footed  ;  earth.     Verily  these  ye  shall 

and  the  coney,  for  he  cheweth  not  eat ;   of   them   that   chew 

not  the  cud  and  is  cloven-foot-  the  cud  and  divide  the  cloven 

ed  ;  and  the  hare,  for  he  chew-  foot,  as  the  camel ;  of  them  as 

eth  the  cud  and  is  cloven-foot-  the  coney  that  chew  not  the 

ed  ;  and  the  swine,  though  he  cud  but  divide  the  hoof,  and 

divideth    the     hoof,     yet     he  as  the   hares,  for   they   chew 

cheweth  not  the  cud ;  and  ev-  the   cud    but    divide    not    the 

ery  beast  which  divideth  the  hoof;  and  the  swine,  for  he 

hoof   and    cleaveth    the    cleft  divideth   the  hoof  but  chew- 

into  two  claws,  as  the  chame-  eth  not  the  cud.     That  which 

leon    after    its    kind    and   the  cleaveth  the  cleft   into   claws 


122  THE  SINAITIC  TORA» 

J.  E. 

lizard  after  its  kind,  the  mouse   is   unclean   unto    you,   as   the 

and  the  weasel  after  its  chameleon  after  its  kind,  the 
KIND.  These  of  them  ye  may  lizard  after  its  kind,  the  shrew 
eat  that  creep  upon  the  earth,  mouse  and  the  weasel  after 
the  locust  after  its  kind  and  its  kind.  Among  the  creep- 
the  grasshopper  after  its  kind,  ing  things  ye  may  eat  the  lo- 
These  ye  shall  have  in  abomi-  cust  after  its  kind  and  the 
nation  among  the  fowls :  the  grasshopper  after  its  kind, 
eagle  and  the  ossif  rage  and  the  And  these  are  they  of  which 
osprey,  and  the  vulture  and  the  ye  shall  not  eat :  the  eagle  and 
kite  after  his  kind,  and  the  the  ossifrage  and  the  osprey, 
raven  after  his  kind,  and  the  and  the  glede  and  the  kite  and 
owl  and  the  night  hawk  and  the  vulture  after  his  kind,  and 
the  cuckoo  and  the  hawk  after  the  raven  after  his  kind,  and 
its  kind,  and  the  little  owl  and  the  owl  and  the  night  hawk 
the  cormorant  and  the  great  and  the  cuckoo  and  the  hawk 
owl,  and  the  swan  and  pelican  after  his  kind,  and  the  little 
and  the  gier  eagle,  and  the  owl  and  the  great  owl  and  the 
stork  and  the  heron  after  her  swan,  and  the  pelican  and  the 
kind,  and  the  lapwing  and  the  gier  eagle  and  the  cormorant 
bat.  And  all  that  have  not  and  the  stork  and  the  heron 
fins  and  scales  of  all  that  after  her  kind,  and  the  lap- 
move  in  the  waters,  they  shall  wing  and  the  bat.  Whatso- 
be  an  abomination  unto  you.      ever  in  the  waters  hath  no  fins 

nor    scales,   that   shall    be   an 
abomination  unto  you. 

CONCERNING  CRIMES, 
J.  E. 

Cursed    be    the    man    that        Cursed  be  he  that  sacrific- 

maketh  a  molten  or  graven  im-   eth  to  any  god,  the  work  of 
age,  the  work  of  men's  hands,   the  hands  of  a  craftsman,  save 
and  setteth  it  up  in  a   secret  Jehovah  only, 
place.  Cursed    be    he    that    bias- 

Cursed    be    he    that    bias-   phemeth   the   name    of  Jeho- 
phemeth  the  name  of  Jehovah,   vah. 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  1 23 

J.  E. 

Cursed  be  he  that  maketh        Cursed  be  he  that  smiteth 

light  of  his  father  or  his  moth-   his  father  or  his  mother. 

er.  Cursed    be    the    man    who 

Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with  taketh  his  father's  wife  and 
his  father's  wife  ;  for  he  hath  discovereth  his  father's  skirts, 
uncovered  his  father's  skirts.  Cursed    be    he    who    lieth 

Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with  with  the  daughter  of  his  fa- 
his  sister.  ther    or  the   daughter  of  his 

Cursed  be  he  that  lieth  with   mother, 
any  manner  of  beasts.  Cursed  be  every  one  who 

Cursed  be  he  that  smiteth   lieth  with  a  beast. 

his  neighbor  secretly.  Cursed   be   he   that  taketh 

reward  to  slay  the  innocent. 

CONCERNING  INJURIES. 
J.  E. 

If  a  man  cause  a  blemish  in        Breach  for  breach,  eye  for 

a  neighbor,  as  he  hath  done,  eye,  tooth  for  tooth.  As  one 
so  shall  it  be  done  unto  him.  causeth  blemish  in  a  man,  so 
He  that  killeth  a  beast  shall  shall  it  be  done  to  him.  He 
make  it  good,  beast  for  beast,  that  killeth  a  beast  shall  re- 
store it. 

CONCERNING  TRUTH  AND  JUDGMENT. 
J.  E. 

Thou  shalt  not  defraud  thy       Thou  shalt  keep  thee  from 

neighbor.  a  false  matter. 

Thou  shalt  not  raise  a  false        xhou  shalt  not  go  up  and 

report.  down  as  a  tale-bearer  amongst 

Thou    shalt  not  curse    the  ^^^  ^^^^^^^ 

judges.  rr^l  1       1.  ^ 

°  ,    ,  ^  „  ^  Ihou     shalt    not    curse    a 

i  hou  shalt  not  follow  after 

the  multitude  to  do  evil  in  a  ^      ^  j  P     P    • 

^,^ygg^  Put  not  thy  hand  with  the 

Thou  shalt  not  speak  after   wicked  to  be  an  unrighteous 
many  to  decline  thy  poor  in   witness, 
his  cause.  Thou  shalt  not  countenance 


124  "TK^  SINAITIC  TORA. 

J.  E. 

Pervert  not  the  judgment  the  perverting  of  a  poor  man 

of   the   stranger,   the   widow,   in  his  cause. 

and  the  fatherless.  Thou  shalt  not  pervert  the 

judgment  of  the  stranger  and 
the  widow  and  the  fatherless, 

OBEDIENCE  AND  LIFE. 
J.  E. 

And  it  shall  come  to  pass        And   it  shall  come  to  pass 

when    Jehovah     shall     bring  when    ye   shall    come    to   the 

thee  into  the  land  of  the  Ca-  land  which  Jehovah  will  give 

naanites,    as    he    sware    unto  you    according    as     he    hath 

thee  and  unto  thy  fathers,  and  promised,  then  these  are   the 

shall  give  it  unto  thee,  these  statutes  and  judgments  which 

are  the  statutes  and  the  judg-  Jehovah  your  God  commanded 

ments  which  ye  shall  observe  to  teach  you  that  ye  should  do 

to   do   that   thou   mayest   live  them  in  the  land  which  Jeho- 

and  inherit  the  land  which  Je-  vah,  God  of  your  fathers,  will 

hovah,  God  of   your  fathers,  give  you,  that  ye  may  live  and 

giveth  thee  to  possess  it,  and  it  be  well  with  you,  and  that 

that  it  may  go  well  with  thee  you  may  prolong   your   days 

and   with   thy   children    after  in    the    land,  which    ye   shall 

thee  in  the  land,  and  that  thou  possess,  all  the  days  that  ye 

mayest  prolong  thy  days  upon  live  upon  the  earth, 
the  land  which  Jehovah   thy 
God  giveth  thee  forever. 

OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING, 

J.  E. 

And    it  shall   be  when  Je-  Wherefore  it  shall  come  to 

hovah    thy    God    shall    have  pass,  when  thou  art  come  into 

brought    thee    into    the    land  the   land  which  Jehovah  thy 

which  he  sware  unto  thy  fa-  God  giveth  thee,  as  he  hath 

thers,  if  thou  hearken  unto  the  sworn  unto  thy   fathers,  and 

voice  of  Jehovah  thy  God,  and  shalt     dwell     therein,     if     ye 

if    thou    shalt    keep  all  these  hearken    to    these  command- 


COMPARATIVE   VIEW. 


125 


J.  E. 

commandments    and    statutes  ments  and  statutes  and  judg- 

and    judgments    to    do   them,  ments  and  keep  and  do  them, 

THEN  ALL   THESE    BLESSINGS  ALL     THESE    BLESSINGS    shall 

shall  come  upon  thee.  Blessed  overtake  thee.      Blessed  shalt 

shalt  thou  be  in  the  city  and  thou  be  in  the  city  and  in  the 

in   the   field,    thy   basket  and  field,  thy  basket  and  thy  store  ; 

thy    store;    Blessed   shall   be  Blessed  shall  be  the  fruit  of 

the  fruit  of  thy  body  and  the  thy  body  and  the  fruit  of  the 

fruit  of  thy  land,  the  increase  ground,   the    increase    of  thy 

of  thy  kine  and  the  flocks  of  kine  and  thy  flocks  of  sheep ; 

thy  sheep ;  Blessed  shalt  thou  Blessed    shalt   thou  be  when 

be  when  thou  goest  out  and  thou  goest  out  and  when  thou 

when  thou   comest  in.     And  comest  in.     And  five  of  you 

Jehovah  shall  cause  thine  en-  shall  chase  a  hundred,  and  a 

emies  that  rise  up  against  thee  hundred  of  you  shall  put  ten 

to  be  smitten  before  thy  face,  thousand  to  flight.     And  thou 

They  shall  come  out  against  shalt    lend    to    many    nations 

thee  one  way  and  flee  before  and  shalt  not  borrow.      And 

thee  seven  ways.     And  thou  Jehovah  shall  make  thee  the 

shalt  be  above  only,  and  thou  head  and  not  the  tail, 
shalt  not  be  underneath. 

PRIDE  OF  HEART. 

J.  E. 

(And  it  shall  come  to  pass).  Beware  that  thou  forget  not 

when  Jehovah  shall  bless  thee  Jehovah  thy  God  in  not  keep- 

with    blessings    in    the    land  ing   his    commandments    and 

which  Jehovah  thy  God  shall  his  judgments  and  his  statutes 

give  thee  for  an  inheritance  to  which    I    command  you    this 

possess  it,  to  give  thee  great  day,  lest  thine  heart  be  lifted 

and  goodly  houses  which  thou  up,  and  thou  forget  Jehovah 

buildest  not,  and  houses  filled  thy  God  which  brought  thee 

with     goodly     things     which  forth  out  of  Egypt,  out  of  the 

thou    filledst    not,    and    wells  house  of  bondage,  when  thou 

digged    which  thou  diggedst  dwellest  in  the  land  which  Je- 


126  THE  SINAITIC  TORA. 

J.  E. 

not,  vineyards  and  olive  trees  hovah  sware  unto  thy  fathers, 
which  thou  plantedst  not,  to  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and 
when  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  Jacob,  to  give  them,  and  when 
full,  beware  lest  thou  forget  thou  hast  eaten  and  art  full, 
Jehovah  which  brought  thee  and  hast  goodly  houses  and 
forth  out  of  Egypt,  from  the  dwell  therein,  and  thy  herds 
house  of  bondage,  and  thou  and  thy  flocks  multiply,  and 
say  in  thine  heart.  My  power  thy  silver  and  thy  gold  abound, 
and  the  might  of  my  hand  and  all  that  thou  hast  is  in- 
hath  gottan  me  this  wealth.        creased. 

FIRST  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS, 
J.  E. 

But  if  ye  walk  contrary  to        But  if  ye  will  not  hearken 

me  (saith  Jehovah),  and  will  unto  me,  but  will  walk  con- 
not  hearken  unto  me,  then  trary  to  me,  then  also  I  will 
also  I  will  walk  contrary  to  walk  contrary  unto  you  in 
you  and  will  punish  you  seven  fury,  and  I,  even  I  (saith  Je- 
times  for  your  sins.  Jehovah  hovah),  will  chastise  you  for 
will  smite  thee  with  consump-  your  sins  seven  times.  I  will 
tion  and  a  fever  and  inflam-  appoint  over  you  consump- 
mation  and  extreme  burning,  tion,  burning  ague,  and  terror. 
He  will  bring  upon  thee  the  I  will  send  among  you  the 
plague.  Thy  heavens  that  are  plague.  I  will  make  your 
above  thy  head  shall  be  brass,  heavens  as  brass  and  your 
and  thy  earth  that  is  under  earth  as  iron.  And  when  I 
thee  shall  be  iron.  Then  they  have  broken  the  staff  of  bread 
shall  deliver  your  bread  by  among  you,  ten  women  shall 
weight.  bake  your  bread  in  one  oven, 

and  ye   shall  eat   and  not  be 

satisfied. 

SECOND  TRIAD  OF    PUNISHMENTS. 
J.  E. 

The  rabble  of  the  field,  thou      And  ye  shall  have  no  pow- 

shalt  go  out  one  way  against    er  to  stand  before  your  ene- 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  12*J 

J.  E. 

them  and  flee  seven  ways  be-    mies.     When  ye  are  gathered 

fore    them.      Thou    shalt    eat   together  within  your  cities,  ye 

the  fruit  of   thine  own  body,   shall  eat  the  flesh  of  your  sons 

the  flesh  of  thy  sons  and  thy    and  ye  shall  eat  the  flesh  of 

daughters,  in  the  straightness   your   daughters  in  the  siege. 

wherewith  thine  enemies  shall   They  that  hate  you  shall  rule 

distress   thee.     And   ye  shall   over  you,  who  shall  rob  you 

sow    your    seed    in    vain,   for  of  your  children  and  destroy 

your  enemies  shall  eat  it.   And   your  cattle. 

he  shall  eat  the  fruit  of  thy 

cattle    and    the   fruit    of    thy 

land. 

THE  SE  VENTH  P  UNISHMENT. 
J.  E. 

Jehovah  will  scatter  you  And  I  will  scatter  you 
among  the  nations,  and  ye  among  the  heathen,  and  I  will 
shall  be  left  few  in  number,  make  you  few  in  number, 
and  the  sound  of  a  shaken  leaf  And  there,  among  the  heathen 
shall  chase  them.  And  they  whither  Jehovah  shall  lead 
shall  flee  as  fleeing  before  a  you,  ye  shall  serve  gods, 
sword,  and  they  shall  fall  wood  and  stone,  which  nei- 
when  none  pursue.  And  ye  ther  see  nor  hear  nor  eat  nor 
SHALL  SERVE  GODS,  wood  smell.  And  I  will  send  a 
and  stone.  And  ye  shall  faintness  in  their  hearts  in  the 
perish  among  the  heathen,  land  of  their  enemies  upon 
Then  the  land  shall  en-  them  that  are  left  of  you,  and 
JOY  her  sabbaths,  when  they  shall  fall  upon  one  an- 
she  lieth  desolate  without  other  as  it  were  before  a 
them.  sword    when    none  pursueth. 

And  the  land  of  your  enemies 
shall  eat  you  up.  And  then 
THE    land    shall   be   left    of 

them,  AND  SHALL  ENJOY  HER 
SABBATHS. 


128  THE   SINAITIC  TORA. 

REPENTANCE  AND  FA  VOR. 
J.  E. 

Then  if  their  uncircumcised        And  (if)  they  shall  accept 

hearts  be  humbled,  and  they  the  punishment  of  their  in- 
accept  the  punishment  of  iquity  because  they  despised 
their  iniquity  because  of  the  my  judgments,  and  because 
wickedness  of  thy  doings  their  soul  abhorred  my  stat- 
whereby  thou  hast  forsaken  utes,  and  if  thou  turn  to  Je- 
me  because  thou  wouldst  not  hovah  thy  God  and  shall  be 
obey  the  voice  of  Jehovah  thy  obedient  to  his  voice,  when 
God,  then  he  will  not  forget  thou  art  in  tribulation,  and 
the  covenant  of  thy  fathers,  all  these  things  are  come  upon 
which  he  sware  unto  them,  thee  in  the  latter  day,  then  I 
and  he  will  not  forsake  thee  will  for  their  sakes  remember 
nor  destroy  thee,  for  Jehovah  the  covenant  of  their  ances- 
thy  God  is  a  merciful  God,  tors  which  I  brought  forth  out 
who  brought  thee  out  of  the  of  Egypt  in  the  sight  of  the 
land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  heathen,  that  I  might  be  their 
house  of  bondage.  God. 

CLOSING  EXHORTATION. 
J.  E. 

Observe  and  hear  all  these        Observe  to  do  whatsoever  I 

words  which  I  command  thee  have  commanded  you  this  day, 
this  day,  that  it  may  go  well  in  order  to  do  right  in  the  eyes 
with  thee  and  thy  children  of  Jehovah  thy  God,  in  order 
after  thee  forever,  in  the  land  that  thy  days  may  be  length- 
that  Jehovah  thy  God  giveth  ened  in  the  land  which  Jeho- 
thee  to  possess  it,  because  thou  vah  thy  God  giveth  thee.  Ye 
doest  good  and  right  in  the  shall  not  add  unto  the  word 
sight  of  Jehovah  thy  God.  which  I  have  commanded  you. 
Thou  shalt  not  add  thereto  nor  diminish  from  it.  For  all 
nor  diminish  therefrom.  For  this  law  which  I  set  before 
this  command  which  I  com-  you  this  day,  it  is  not  far  off. 
mand  thee  this  day  was  not  It  is  not  beyond  the  sea,  that 
hidden  from  thee.     It  was  not   thou  shouldst  say,  Who  shall 


COMPARATIVE  VIEW.  1^^ 

J.  E. 

in   the   heavens,    that    thou  go  over  the  sea  for  us  and 

shouldst  say,  Who  shall  go  up  bring    it  to    us   that  we   may 

to  heaven  to  bring  it  down  to  hear  and  do  it  ?     But  very  nigh 

us,  that  we  may  hear  and  do  thee   is  the  law   of  Jehovah, 

it?     But    the  word  is  in  thy  even  in  thy  mouth, 
mouth  and  in  thy  heart,  that 
thou  mayest  do  it. 

9 


Part  II. 
BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

(■30 


"And  we  may  observe,  that  exactly  in  proportion  to  the  majesty  of 
things  in  the  scale  of  being  is  the  completeness  of  their  obedience  to 
the  laws  that  are  set  over  them.  Gravitation  is  less  quietly,  less  in- 
stantly obeyed  by  a  grain  of  dust  than  it  is  by  the  sun  and  the  moon; 
and  the  ocean  falls  and  flows  under  the  influences  which  the  lake  and 
the  river  do  not  recognize.  So  also  in  estimating  the  dignity  of  any 
action  or  occupation  of  men,  there  is  perhaps  no  better  test  than  the 
question,  'Are  its  laws  strait.'*'" — Ruskin, 
(132) 


CHAPTER  XII. 

SIN  AND  FORGIVENESS. 

Israel  was  encamped  before  Mount  Horeb.  They 
had  come  forth  from  Egypt  in  haste.  Great  and  mighty 
wonders  had  been  wrought  in  Pharaoh's  kingdom, 
through  the  might  of  Jehovah,  in  behalf  of  this  people. 
Israel  made  the  exodus  from  Egypt  to  go  to  the  land  of 
promise,  that  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  It  was 
far  to  the  north  of  Egypt,  and  it  would  seem  that  their 
leader,  Moses,  had  purposed  to  take  a  direct  road  to 
this  land,  but  changed  the  line  of  march  at  Jehovah's 
command,  and  went  to  the  southeast,  pitching  the  camp 
on  the  west  branch  of  the  Red  Sea,  near  its  head. 
Pharaoh  repented  of  letting  Israel  go,  and  so  sent  his 
hosts  to  return  Israel  back  to  Egypt.  Fear  took  posses- 
sion of  the  people  when  they  saw  the  Egyptians.  They 
cried  unto  Jehovah.  Their  cry  was  heard.  Command 
came  to  Moses  that  Israel  should  pass  through  the  sea. 
It  was  at  night,  yet  not  so  dark  but  that  the  Egyptians 
might  have  seen  signs  of  movement  in  the  camp  of  the 
children  of  Israel  in  case  an  attempt  should  be  made 
on  their  part  to  escape.  A  cloud  appeared,  and  moved 
and  stood  between  Israel  and  the  Egyptians.  It  was 
dark  toward  the  pursuers,  but  it  gave  light  to  the  un- 
disciplined company  who  were  to  pass  through  the  sea. 
They  passed  over  dry-shod.  The  path  through  the  sea 
was  no  unusual  phenomenon,  else  the  Egyptians  would 
not  have  ventured  to  follow  the  Israelites.  The  cloud 
presented  to  the  Egyptians  no  unnatural  look,  else  there 

(133) 


134  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

would  have  been  a  dread  among  them  which  would 
have  deterred  them  from  pressing  through  the  sea  after 
the  children  of  Israel  when  the  cloud  lifted  and  showed 
the  Egyptians  that  Israel  was  on  the  other  side.  But 
all  was  changed  to  the  fugitive  people.  The  sea  parted, 
because  Jehovah  willed  it  for  their  rescue;  the  cloud 
hid  them  from  the  Egyptians  and  lighted  for  them  the 
path  which  had  been  made  in  their  behalf  through  the 
sea. 

Impatient,  the  Egyptians  hastened  to  ford  the  sea 
when  they  saw  that  the  people  after  whom  they  were 
pursuing  had  crossed  to  the  other  side.  Chariots  and 
horsemen  hurried  across.  They  felt  no  fear.  But  Mo- 
ses stood  on  the  opposite  shore,  and  in  obedience  to 
the  word  of  Jehovah  stretched  the  rod  in  his  hand  over 
the  sea,  and  the  waters  of  the  sea  returned  to  their  nat- 
ural course.  The  strength  of  the  waters  prevailed,  and 
soon  laid  low  the  horsemen  and  horses  struggling  in 
their  midst.  Then  rose  the  first  psean  of  victory  in  Is- 
rael. Women  joined  in  the  song  of  triumph;  yet  it 
celebrated  not  a  victory  won  by  the  might  of  Israel's 
army ;  rather  it  was  a  song  of  praise  unto  Jehovah  for 
making  a  great  deliverance.  Scarcely  had  the  notes  of 
triumph  died  upon  the  air  before  Israel  began  to  gather 
the  spoils  from  the  Egyptians.  Some  twelve  thousand 
made  up  the  company  of  the  Israelites.  They  gathered 
the  spoil,  and  then  resumed  their  march  and  went 
southward  along  the  coasts  of  the  Red  Sea  by  a  nat- 
ural route.  Sometimes  they  were  forced  some  distance 
from  the  shore ;  at  other  times  they  came  close  to  the 
sea.  There  was  good  pasture  at  this  time  of  the  year 
for  such  cattle  as  they  had.  Water  was  scarce.  They 
moved  along  slowly  until  they  came  to  the  wilderness 


SIN   AND    FORGIVENESS.  I35 

from  whose  northern  border  Horeb  stood  out  in  stately 
grandeur.  In  its  shadow  Moses's  father-in-law  met  Is- 
rael's great  leader,  and  to  the  visitor  he  rehearsed  the 
wonderful  doings  of  Jehovah  for  Israel.  Jethro  saw 
the  burdens  which  Moses  carried  in  settling  the  matters 
of  dispute  among  the  Israelites,  and  advised  him  to  ap- 
point ''men  of  truth"  to  adjust  these  matters.  Hence 
arose  the  first  step  in  the  education  of  this  people  as  a 
body  politic. 

The  making  of  a  nation  is  determined  by  its  law,  not 
by  its  conquests.  Moses,  in  this  halting  season  beneath 
Horeb,  recalled  the  bush  burning  with  fire,  but  not  con- 
sumed, and  the  mission  upon  which  he  had  been  sent 
by  Jehovah,  who  had  spoken  to  him  from  that  bush. 
He  had  seen  the  deliverance  of  Israel.  His  people 
were  no  longer  bondmen.  Faith  in  God  is  not  created 
in  men  by  marvels  and  wonders.  A  despairing  people 
may  be  aroused  to  act  in  their  own  behalf  by  a  marvel; 
yet  a  faith  in  God  built  upon  wonders  is  sustained  only 
by  wonders.  Hence  such  a  faith  is  as  evanescent  as 
that  rich  glow  of  color  which  the  clouds  take  on  some- 
times when  the  sun  is  setting.  The  power  of  an  older 
religious  faith  also  overmasters  men,  when  the  author 
or  mediator  of  a  new  faith  suffers  sudden  eclipse. 
Israel,  as  bondmen  in  Egypt,  had  without  doubt  held 
more  or  less  tenaciously  to  their  ancestral  faith ;  but  the 
powerful  god  was  to  them  the  gods  of  Egypt,  until  Mo- 
ses came.  Jehovah's  wonders  had  made  converts  of 
Israel  to  a  larger  faith  in  the  God  of  their  forefathers. 

The  word  came  to  Moses  from  Jehovah  to  go  up  into 
the  mountain.  He  obeyed,  and  ascended  the  rugged 
paths  of  Horeb.  He  remained  in  the  mount  forty  days 
and  forty  nights.     It  was,  indeed,  a  time  of  communing 


136  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

with  Jehovah;  it  was  also  a  time  of  self-communing. 
He  learned  in  the  mountain  that  hereafter  the  great 
fundamental  principles  of  good  morals  were  to  be  more 
potent  in  Israel  than  the  rod  wherewith  he  had  wrought 
wonders  in  Egypt;  that  keeping  fresh  in  the  minds  of 
Israel  the  mighty  deeds  which  Jehovah  had  done  for 
Israel  would  conserve  faith  rather  than  an  increase  of 
wonders.  This  forty  days  taught  Moses  that  the  slow 
but  transforming  power  of  obedience  to  laws  and  stat- 
utes was  more  wonderful  than  display  of  power  in  signs. 
Israel,  meanwhile,  had  lost  sight  of  the  man  with  the 
wonder-working  rod.  They  became  impatient.  They 
wished  to  advance.  The  wastes  of  the  Horeb  wilder- 
ness were  no  land  flowing  with  milk  and  honey.  They 
thought  Moses  dead.  They  had  no  man  to  go  before 
them,  for  ''they  wot  not  what  had  become  of  Moses"  ; 
they  therefore  made  for  themselves  a  god  to  go  before 
them.     It  was  a  departure  into  idolatry. 

On  the  mount  Moses  had  received  the  two  tables  of 
stone  containing  the  Ten  Commandments.  He  had  also 
received  promise  that  Jehovah  would  accompany  Israel 
on  the  march  to  Canaan;  when  suddenly  Jehovah 
commands  him  to  descend  the  mountain,  saying,  ''The 
people  that  thou  broughtest  out  of  Egypt  have  corrupted 
themselves."  Moses  went  down  the  mount,  carrying 
the  tables  of  stone  in  his  hand.  Coming  in  sight  of  the 
camp,  he  saw  the  people  in  the  wild  excesses  of  joy 
such  as  they  had  seen  practiced  in  Egypt  at  religious 
feasts,  and  he  saw  also  the  golden  calf  which  they  had 
made  and  worshiped.  Then  he  understood  why  Jeho- 
vah had  cast  off  Israel,  threatening  their  destruction. 
Moses  threw  down  and  brake  the  tables  of  stone. 
There  was  no  people  now  of  Jehovah;  there  was  no 


SIN  AND  FORGIVENESS.  1 37 

need  of  Jehovah's  law.  Straight  to  the  molten  im- 
age he  went,  in  the  face  of  all  the  people.  They  were 
startled  by  his  appearance.  They  had  thought  him 
dead  or  lost.  Without  a  word,  this  sublime  leader  of 
men  smote  the  idol  and  destroyed  it  with  fire.  Israel 
stood  mute  before  that  man  in  whose  presence  Pharaoh 
king  of  Egypt  had  stood  awed.  Then  Moses  spoke. 
He  told  them  of  their  sin,  of  the  anger  of  Jehovah,  of 
his  purpose  to  destroy  them.  He  said:  *'Ye  have 
sinned  a  great  sin,  yet  now  will  I  return  unto  Jehovah; 
perhaps  I  may  make  atonement  for  you."  Then  Is- 
rael stripped  off  all  their  ornaments,  and  while  Moses 
climbed  Horeb  to  make,  perchance,  atonement  for  his 
people,  they  mourned  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain. 

At  the  place  where  he  had  received  the  command- 
ments he  intercedes  for  Israel.  The  mysterious  pow- 
er of  intercession  even  among  men  seems  untraceable. 
Much  less  may  we  hope  to  fathom  its  power  with  Je- 
hovah. Its  noblest  element  is,  that  all  intercession  is 
self-renunciatory.  Moses  prevailed  with  Jehovah.  He 
received  commandment  to  return  to  Israel  and  make 
atonement  for  them.  Here  is  the  origin  of  the  Day 
of  Atonement  so  sacredly  observed  by  the  Jews  unto 
this  day.  The  scene  was  weird  as  well  as  most  impress- 
ive. A  sorrowful  people  stood  before  the  altar  which 
had  been  made.  The  sin  offering  was  offered.  Then 
were  brought  before  the  altar  two  young  goats.  Lots 
were  cast  upon  them ;  one  was  to  be  slain,  the  other  was 
to  be  taken  and  let  loose  into  the  wilderness,  bearincr 
the  sins  of  the  people  **to  an  uninhabited  country." 
All  is  symbol:  the  sin  offering  an  act  of  confession  on 
the  part  of  the  people,  the  flight  of  the  goat  into  the 
wilderness  the   remission   whereby   sin   was   removed 


138  BOOK  OF  THE   COVENANT. 

away.     The  sun  of  that  day  in  its  setting  shone  upon 
Israel  a  forgiven  people. 

Such  is  the  traditional  history  of  Israel  as  it  is  gath- 
ered from  the  present  Pentateuch.  Such  is  the  history 
of  Israel  as  reconstructive  criticism  finds  it  in  the  two 
histories  which  it  separates  from  our  present  Penta- 
teuch. This  history  appeals  at  every  turn  to  the  imagi- 
nation. Because  of  these  unique  facts  connected  with 
this  early  history  of  Israel,  the  greatest  minds  of  the 
past  have  accepted  this  Israelitic  history  as  a  part  of 
revelation.  Let  us  now  turn  to  Wellhausen's  "Evolu- 
tion of  the  History  of  Israel."  He  says:  *' Forced  la- 
bor was  exacted  of  them  (Israel)  for  the  construction 
of  new  public  works  in  Goshen,  an  exaction  which  was 
felt  to  be  an  assault  upon  their  freedom  and  honor,  and 
which  in  point  of  fact  was  fitted  to  take  away  all  that 
was  distinctive  in  their  nationality.  But  they  had  no 
remedy  at  hand,  and  submitted  in  despair  until  Moses 
at  last  appeared  and  saw  a  favorable  opportunity  of 
deliverance.  Reminding  his  oppressed  brethren  of 
the  God  of  their  fathers,  and  urging  that  their  cause 
was  his,  he  taught  them  to  regard  self-assertion  against 
the  Egyptians  as  an  article  of  religion ;  and  they  be- 
came once  more  a  united  people  in  the  determination 
to  seek  refuge  from  oppression  in  the  wilderness,  which 
was  the  dwelling  place  of  their  kindred  and  the  seat  of 
their  God.  At  a  time  when  Eg3^pt  was  scourged  by  a 
grievous  plague,  the  Hebrews  broke  up  their  settlement 
in  Goshen  one  night  in  spring  and  directed  their  steps 
toward  their  own  home  again.  According  to  the  ac- 
counts, the  king  had  consented  to  the  exodus,  and  lat- 
terly had  even  forced  it  on,  but  it  was  none  the  less 
a  secret  flight.     To  a  not  very  numerous  people  such 


SIN  AND  FORGIVENESS.  1 39 

an  undertaking  presented  no  great  difficulty.  Never- 
theless, its  execution  was  not  to  be  carried  on  unim- 
peded. The  Hebrews,  compelled  to  abandon  the  di- 
rect eastward  route  (Exod.  xiii.  17,  18),  turned  toward 
the  southwest  and  encamped  at  last  on  the  Egyptian 
shore  of  the  northern  arm  of  the  Red  Sea,  where  they 
were  overtaken  by  Pharaoh's  army.  The  situation 
was  a  critical  one,  but  a  high  wind  during  the  night 
left  the  shallow  sea  so  low  that  it  became  possible 
to  ford  it.  Moses  immediately  accepted  the  sugges- 
tion, and  made  the  venture  wdth  success.  The  Egyp- 
tians rushed  after  them,  came  upon  them  on  the  fur- 
ther shore,  and  a  struggle  ensued.  But  the  assailants 
fought  at  a  disadvantage,  the  ground  being  ill  suited 
for  their  chariots  and  horsemen ;  they  fell  into  confu- 
sion and  attempted  a  retreat.  Meanwhile  the  wind 
changed,  the  water  returned,  and  the  pursuers  were 
annihilated.  After  turning  aside  to  visit  Sinai,  as  re- 
lated in  Exodus,  the  emigrants  settled  at  Kadesh,  east- 
ward from  Goshen,  on  the  southern  border  of  Pales- 
tine, where  they  remained  for  many  years."  (Hist. 
of  Israel,  p.  429.)  One  asks,  "What  is  there  in  this 
evolved  history  of  Israel  worth  keeping?  It  is  all 
'*  stale,  flat,  and  unprofitable."  Wellhausen  considers 
our  traditional  accounts  as  the  fictions  of  later  time 
thrown  back  into  the  period  of  Moses.  And  then  our 
German  critic  simply  elected  what  in  these  fictions  of 
later  times  seemed  to  him  appropriate  to  Moses  and  his 
clan,  and  fabricated  his  history  of  Israel  for  us. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Critical  Documents. 

Higher  criticism  recognizes  a  Book  of  the  Cov- 
enant and  assigns  it  to  E.  The  older  criticism  as- 
signed practically  Exodus  xx.  22-xxiii.  to  this  critical 
document;  but  more  recent  investigation  has  shown 
that  the  Book  of  the  Judgments  has  been  interpolated 
into  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  partitioning  it  into  two 
parts,  XX.  22-26  and  xxiii.  19-33.  Rothstein  (Bun- 
desbuch,  1888),  Bantsch  (Bundesbuch,  1892),  Bacon 
(Triple  Tradition  of  the  Exodus,  1894),  have,  accord- 
ing to  the  higher  critics,  quite  established  this  position. 
There  is  another  collection  of  largely  cultus  regula- 
tions found  in  Exodus  xxxiv.  This  collection  is  as- 
signed to  J,  and  is  called  the  Words  of  the  Covenant. 
Stade  (Geschichte,  i.  519)  pointed  out  a  decalogue  in 
this  chapter  after  later  amplifications  and  redactions 
had  been  excluded.     This  decalogue  is  as  follows: 

1.  Thou  shalt  not  worship  any  other  god. 

2.  Thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself  any  molten  gods. 

3.  The  feast  of  unleavened  cakes  thou  shalt  keep. 

4.  All  that  first  openeth  the  womb  is  mine. 

5.  Thou  shalt  observe  the  sabbath. 

6.  The  feast  of  weeks  and  the  feast  of  ingathering  thou 
shalt  observe. 

7.  Thou  shalt  not  offer  the  blood  of  my  sacrifice  with 
leaven. 

8.  The  fat  of  my  feast  shall  not  be  left  until  the  morn- 
ing. 

(140) 


CRITICAL  DOCUMENTS.  I4I 

9.  The  best  of  the  first  fruits  of  thy  ground  thou  shalt 
bring  unto  the  house  of  Jehovah  thy  God. 

10.  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  his  mother's  milk. 

Wellhausen  eliminates  the  sabbath  from  this  deca- 
logue, and  divides  its  sixth  command  into  two,  thus  com- 
pleting for  him  the  required  number  of  ten.  It  is  con- 
ceded by  higher  critics  that  these  Words  of  the  Covenant 
are  largely  parallel  with  a  decalogue  in  the  Book  of  the 
Covenant.  (Vide  Exodus  xxiii.  andxx.  22-26.)  This 
fact  becomes  evident  when  the  commandments  in  the 
latter  are  separated  and  arranged  in  an  order  as  above: 

1.  Ye  shall  not  make  other  gods  with  me. 

2.  Ye  shall  not  make  unto  you  gods  of  silver  or  gods  of 
gold. 

3.  The  feast  of  unleavened  bread  thou  shalt  keep. 

4- 

5.  Thou  shalt  rest  on  the  seventh  day. 

6.  The   feast  of    harvest   and   the  feast  of   ingathering 
thou  shalt  keep. 

7.  Thou  shalt  not  offer  the  blood  of  my  sacrifice  with 
unleavened  bread. 

8.  And  the  fat  of  my  feast  shall  not  remain  all  night 
until  the  morning. 

9.  The  best  of  the  first  fruits  of  thy  ground  thou  shalt 
bring  unto  the  house  of  Jehovah  thy  God. 

10.  Thou  shalt  not  seethe  a  kid  in  its  mother's  milk. 

In  this  Book  of  the  Covenant  there  is  wanting  the 
fourth  commandment  only.  The  Judean  Prophetic 
Narrative  (J)  is  assumed  to  have  been  written  about  800 
B.C.,  and  the  Ephraimite  Prophetic  Narrative  (E)  is  as- 
signed to  750  B.C.  It  seems  reasonable  to  affirm,  on 
the  basis  of  the  likeness  of  these  two  decalogues,  that 
they  were  derived  from  some  common  source  prior  to 


142  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

the  appearance  of  either;  else  E  must  have  borrowed 
his  decalogue  from  J.  Their  practical  identity  recalls 
the  two  copies  of  the  Ten  Words,  in  Exodus  xx.  1-17 
and  Deuteronomyv.  6-21,  and  also  that  higher  critics  ex- 
plain this  phenomenon  of  the  Deuteronomic  decalogue 
being  substantially  repeated  in  the  E  document  by  as- 
suming that  a  redactor  or  compiler  incorporated  into 
E  these  Ten  Words  from  a  Deuteronomic  source. 

Professor  Cheyne,  of  Oxford,  England,  writes  in  his 
''Founders  of  Old  Testament  Criticism"  (1893):  *'Mr. 
Bacon  strikes  me  as  the  ablest  of  our  younger  Hexa- 
teuch  critics."  With  this  high  commendation  from  the 
only  scholar  in  England  who  has  had  the  courage  to 
accept  all  the  consequences  of  adopting  the  Graf-Well- 
hausen  theory,  scorning  to  use  shuffling  in  any  manner, 
we  may  quote  from  Dr.  Bacon  in  order  to  show  how, 
according  to  higher  critics,  the  Words  of  the  Cove- 
nant found  its  present  place  in  the  Pentateuch.  Dr. 
Bacon  says:  '*It  seems  to  have  been  the  work  of 
Rd  to  reincorporate  with  JE  the  Words  of  the  Cov- 
enant eliminated  as  a  duplicate  by  Rje.  ...  It 
is  clear,  however,  that  in  the  time  of  Deuteronomy  x. 
i-ii  E's  account  of  the  renewal  of  the  covenant  had 
been  superseded  by  J's  story  of  the  giving  of  the  Words 
of  the  Covenant,  the  latter  presenting  the  tables  of 
stone  as  still  preserved  (Deut.  x.  5),  whereas  E's  nar- 
rative left  them  shattered  on  the  steps  of  Horeb.  This 
reincorporation  was  not  effected  without  displacement. 
While  it  would  be  foolhardy  to  attempt  to  state  in  de- 
tail what  the  process  was,  it  is  safe  to  maintain  that  it 
gave  to  Exodus  xxxiii.  f .,  practically  and  as  a  whole,  its 
present  character  of  an  intercession  on  the  part  of  Mo- 
ses with  Yahweh,  resulting  in  the  renewal  of  the  cove- 


CRITICAL  DOCUMENTS. 


H3 


nant,  and  rewriting  by  Yahweh  (cf.  Deut.  x.  4)  of  the 
tables.  But  two  accounts  of  the  renewal  of  the  cove- 
nant, E's  (xx.  22-26;  xxii.  10-33;  xxiv.  3-8)  and  J's 
(xxxiv. )  could  not  stand  side  by  side.  If  both  were  pre- 
served, one  must  retire  to  a  position  before  the  apostasy 
in  order  to  avoid  the  glaring  absurdity  of  two  consecu- 
tive ratifications  of  the  same  covenant  before  Yahweh 
and  Israel. ' '  ( Triple  Tradition  of  the  Exodus,  p.  150. ) 
It  matters  little  to  the  general  student  how  the  Words  of 
the  Covenant  was  given  its  present  place.  Vital,  howev- 
er, is  it  to  both  the  general  and  critical  student  to  know 
why,  after  it  had  been  eliminated  as  a  duplicate,  it  should 
be  reincorporated  a  century  or  more  afterwards.  High- 
er critics  leave  us  in  darkness  at  this  point. 

Assuming  now  that  the  documents  E  and  J,  in  which 
we  find  respectively  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  and  the 
Words  of  the  Covenant,  appeared  in  the  northern  and 
southern  kingdoms  on  or  before  750  B.C.,  an  analysis 
of  them  makes  it  evident  that  in  both  kingdoms  at  this 
time  monotheism  was  required  and  idolatry  forbidden. 
So  much  as  to  the  faith  in  God.  As  to  the  cultus  in 
these  two  documents,  there  were  three  feasts;  and  as  to 
gifts  required  by  them,  the  firstborn  of  the  womb  and 
the  first  fruits  of  the  earth  are  named.  As  to  sacrifices, 
it  is  simply  stated  in  each  that  the  blood  is  not  to  be 
offered,  the  fat  is  not  to  be  left  until  morning.  A  fair 
inference  then  is  that  in  Judah  and  in  Israel  the  cultus 
must  have  been  essentially  alike,  since  the  authoritative 
code  in  each  kingdom  was  essentially  alike  and  made 
demands  for  monotheism  and  for  the  banishment  of 
idolatry,  and  that  it  had  three  common  feasts  and 
two  prescriptive  rules  pertaining  to  sacrifice.  Yet  per- 
haps at  no  time  was  there  more  bitter  hatred  between 


144  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

the  kingdoms  than  at  this  time,  since  in  the  last  part  of 
the  eighth  century  the  king  of  Israel  dismantled  part  of 
the  fortifications  of  Judah,  robbed  her  palaces  and  her 
temple,  and  took  hostages  back  with  him  to  Samaria. 
It  would  take  much  more  than  a  half-century  to  eradi- 
cate this  bitterness  from  the  two  kingdoms.  Hence 
we  must  go  back  some  years  earlier  before  we  can  find 
a  time  with  such  friendliness  between  the  kingdoms  as 
to  feel  warranted  in  deriving  a  common  source  for  the 
cultus  which  was  prevalent  in  each  kingdom.  More- 
over, it  is  true  that  unless  some  insuperable  difficulty 
had  been  in  the  way  there  would  have  been  a  different 
cult  in  each  kingdom;  for  the  aim  of  Israel's  ruler  was 
to  separate  and  alienate  his  subjects  from  the  memories 
of  a  southern  kingdom.  Indeed,  there  is  no  adequate 
explanation  of  the  relations  of  the  two  kingdoms,  ex- 
cept on  the  bond  of  a  common  religious  faith  which 
could  not  be  easily  given  up,  and  a  cultus  which  became 
inoperative  only  when  Israel  became  degenerate  and 
most  corrupt.  Assuming  a  united  kingdom  in  which  a 
cultus  with  the  features  indicated  in  these  two  decalogues 
had  flourished  with  splendor  and  become  for  united  Is- 
rael endeared  by  a  century  of  devotion  to  it,  there  is 
little  difficulty  in  explaining  how  a  similar  religious  cult 
should  be  practiced  in  the  two  kingdoms  which  were 
made  from  the  one,  when  it  was  divided. 

The  Book  of  the  Covenant  and  the  Words  of  the 
Covenant  are  regarded  in  the  documents  of  E  and  J  as 
mediated  to  Israel  by  Moses.  Higher  critics  construct 
two  narratives  for  the  framework  of  these  two  covenant 
codes,  and  they  differ  very  little  from  each  other.  There 
is  the  apostasy  of  Israel,  the  descent  of  Moses  from  the 
mount  with  the  covenant  tables,  and  the  intercession  of 


CRITICAL  DOCUMENTS.  I45 

Moses  for  Israel.  Now  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that 
the  contents  of  these  two  tables,  according  to  higher 
criticism,  are  the  authoritative  expression  of  the  reli- 
gious life  in  these  two  kingdoms,  if  not  before  certainly 
as  late  as  the  earliest  part  of  the  seventh  century.  By 
these  documents  it  was  ordained  for  both  Judah  and  Is- 
rael that  Jehovah  should  be  worshiped  alone,  that  the 
firstlings  and  the  first  fruits  were  his,  that  the  sabbath 
should  be  kept.  If  now  Moses  was  not  by  long  tradi- 
tion associated  with  exactly  this  same  attitude  toward 
Jehovah,  what  sense  was  there  in  ascribing  these  utter- 
ances to  him  ?  Surely  it  is  simpler  to  believe  that  Mo- 
ses verily  did  teach  such  views  as  these  covenant  writ- 
ings contain,  and  that  the  prominence  which  they  as- 
sumed in  the  seventh  century  was  due  to  a  revival  of 
Mosaism,  than  to  believe  that  the  prophets  or  their  fol- 
lowers, who  had  faith  in  a  God  of  truth,  would  resort  to 
a  lie  in  order  to  propagate  a  cult  which  aimed  to  honor 
Jehovah. 

Reconstructive  criticism  accepts  as  true  the  tradition- 
al view,  namely,  that  Moses  did  mediate  a  covenant  be- 
tween Jehovah  and  Israel.  Yet  the  words  of  this  cove- 
nant for  some  reason  has  been  scattered  in  the  Penta- 
teuch. We  also  hold  that  this  covenant  was  sacredly 
kept  in  two  histories  of  Israel  for  centuries,  and  that 
they  are  now  in  the  jumbled  mass  of  Exodus— Deuter- 
onomy. Reconstructive  criticism  separated  the  two 
copies  of  the  Mosaic  Tora  in  a  previous  volume,  and  in 
the  first  part  of  this  volume  it  has  given  in  two  copies 
the  Sinaitic  Tora.  From  what  remains  it  will  produce 
in  two  copies  the  Book  of  the  Covenant.  The  two  cov- 
enant documents  of  higher  criticism  are  each  composed 
of  commandments  and  statutes;  so  likewise  are  the  two 
10 


146  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

versions  of  the  covenant  as  recovered  by  reconstructive 
criticism .  The  two  covenants  of  the  higher  criticism  have 
a  remarkable  resemblance  to  each  other;  so  also  have 
the  two  copies  of  the  covenant  restored  by  reconstruct- 
ive criticism.  Beyond  these  facts,  there  is  but  slight  re- 
semblance between  the  covenant  as  presented  by  these 
two  schools  of  criticism. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION. 

There  was  a  deep,  powerful  solemnity  pervading  the 
camp  of  Israel  the  days  immediately  succeeding  the 
great  Day  of  Atonement.  It  was  a  time  of  waiting  for 
further  knowledge.  Jehovah  had  told  Moses,  when  he 
called  him  first  to  the  summit  of  Horeb,  that  the  Tables 
of  Testimony  which  he  should  receive  would  contain  the 
words  which  should  constitute  the  basis  of  a  covenant 
between  Jehovah  and  Israel.  The  law  of  forgiveness 
had  been  revealed,  because  repentance  and  interces- 
sion had  prevailed  with  Jehovah.  The  normal  state  of 
the  relation  between  Jehovah  and  Israel  had  been  re- 
stored. Not  strange  then  is  it  that  the  next  step  in  the 
education  of  Israel  should  be  the  one  which  had  been 
begun,  but  not  completed.  Moses  received  from  Jeho- 
vah command  to  ascend  again  the  mount  and  receive 
the  Tables  of  Testimony.  They  were  given  him  while 
he  was  in  the  mountain  this  third  time,  and  contained 
the  same  words  as  the  tables  which  he  had  broken 
when,  after  his  first  descent,  he  beheld  the  idol  which 
Israel  had  made.     Such  is  the  record. 

Moses  descended  this  third  time,  carrying  in  his  hands 
the  precious  tables,  on  which  were  engraved  the  words 
according  to  which  Israel  should  make  covenant  with 
Jehovah.  The  people  awaited  his  coming.  Now  they 
gathered  beneath  the  mountain,  where  Moses  had  build- 
ed  an  altar;  and  while  Israel  listened,  Moses  read  the 
commandments  and  statutes,  which  he  had  written  in 
a  book.     At  the  close  of  his  reading,  the  people  an- 

(H7) 


148  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

swered,  '*A11  that  Jehovah  commands,  we  will  do." 
Then  the  people  offered  peace  offerings  on  the  altar, 
and  Moses  took  of  the  blood  and  sprinkled  it  upon  the 
people,  and  said,  ''  Behold  the  blood  of  the  covenant." 
The  scene  was  grand.  Horeb  towered  above  Israel  in 
solitary  gloom.  The  wastes  of  sand  stretched  away 
east  and  south  toward  the  Red  Sea.  The  smoke  of  the 
peace  offerings  was  slowly  vanishing  into  the  still  air. 
And  in  the  solemn  quiet  of  each  Israelite's  heart,  long 
after  the  earnest  accents  of  the  speaker's  voice  had 
hushed  into  silence,  there  were  heard  the  words,  ''Be- 
hold the  blood  of  the  covenant."  Israel  then  turned 
away  from  the  altar  beneath  Horeb  and  wended  their 
way  back  to  their  tents,  a  people  united  in  covenant 
with  Jehovah. 

The  nobler  the  emotions  which  actuate  a  man,  the 
more  perfect  is  the  expression  which  he  gives  to  his 
thoughts.  And  more,  whenever  a  man  has  a  message 
for  a  people,  if  he  knows  that  it  is  to  be  the  heritage  of 
coming  times,  he  becomes  possessed  of  a  rare  selective 
power,  that  enables  him  to  record  only  the  features 
which  can  retain  perennial  freshness.  The  remarkable 
brevity  of  the  historical  introduction  to  the  Book  of  the 
Covenant  strikes  the  reader  immediately.  There  are 
only  two  thoughts  presented,  namely,  Jehovah  had 
wrought  for  Israel  wonders,  and  Jehovah  will  bring 
them  into  the  promised  land.  Moreover,  emphasis  is 
not  placed  upon  the  marvels,  but  upon  the  sure  fulfill- 
ment of  promise. 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  THE  SIGNS  AND  WONDERS  AC- 
CORDING TO  J. 

E  *9  "      And  Jehovah  said  :  These  are  the  words 
which  thou  shalt  speak  to  the  children  of  Is- 


HISTORICAL.  INTRODUCTION.  I49 

i^  II  rael ;  I  am  Jehovah  your  God  who  brought  you 

^  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt.     And  ye  saw  all  that 

Jehovah  did  before  your  eyes  in  the  land  of 

Egypt,   unto   Pharaoh  and  unto  his  servants 

"^l  and  unto  his  land,  the  great  temptations  which 

thine  eyes  saw,  and  those  great  miracles,  and 

i5^  L  II  the  mighty  hand  to  give  unto  you  the  land  of 

Canaan. 

The  appeal  is  made  to  witnesses.  Israel,  who  was 
about  to  make  a  covenant  with  Jehovah,  had  seen  the 
magnificent  display  of  his  power  in  their  behalf.  Yet 
Jehovah  wrought  not  in  order  to  make  a  show  of  that 
plenitude  of  might  which  was  his,  and  his  alone.  What- 
ever purpose  might  be  subserved  by  his  leading  in 
nightly  procession  the  hosts  of  the  stars  across  the 
heavens  or  by  any  one  of  his  stupendous  daily  acts 
(and  men  might  differ  in  judgment  thereof),  certain  it 
is  that  the  great  temptations  and  the  great  miracles  of 
Jehovah  in  Egypt  were  wrought  solely  to  give  Israel  the 
land  of  Canaan. 

TUB  PURPOSE  OF  THE  SIGNS  AND  WONDERS  AC- 
CORDING TO  E. 

e"e^^      And  Jehovah  said:   Thus  shalt  thou  say 
unto  the  house  of  Jacob,  and  tell  the  children 
E  '^  of  Israel :  I  am  Jehovah  thy  God  who  brought 
thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of 
E  ^4  bondage.     Ye  saw  what  I  did  unto  the  Egyp- 
19  tians,  the  great  temptations  which  thine  eyes 
saw,  and  the  signs  and  wonders  and  the  out- 
stretched arm,  whereby  Jehovah  brought  thee 
af  out,  that  he  might  bring  us  in  to  give  us  the 
land  which  he  sware  unto  our  fathers. 

The  essential  likeness  in  these  two  accounts  is  at 


150  BOOK  OF  THE   COVENANT. 

once  apparent.  Differences  are  most  interesting.  The 
E  account  speaks  of  Egypt  as  the  house  of  bondage. 
Probably  Ezekiel  wrote  the  history  into  which  the  E 
Book  of  the  Covenant  is  incorporated,  and  so  it  is  quite 
apparent  why  the  thought  of  bondage  was  dominant 
with  him.  Again,  the  promised  land  with  E  is  not  Ca- 
naan, but  the  land  ''which  he  [Jehovah]  sware  unto 
our  fathers."  Thus  each  variant  feature  in  these  two 
versions  is  accounted  for. 

The  second  part  of  this  historical  introduction  to  the 
Book  of  the  Covenant  is  an  utterance  of  faith  in  the 
promise  of  Jehovah.  The  cheering  power  of  promise 
was  to  buoy  Israel  in  the  present  hardships. 

FAITH  IN  THE  PROMISE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

\      For  Jehovah  shall  bring  thee  into  a  goodly 

land,  a  land  of  brooks  and  waters,  of  fountains 

and  depths  that  spring  out  of  valleys  and  hills, 

I  a  land  of  wheat  and  barley  and  vines  and  fig 

trees  and  pomegranates,  a  land  of  olive  oil  and 

J2  honey,  a  land  which  Jehovah  thy  God  careth 

iJ  for.     And  thou  shalt  eat  and  be  full,  and  bless 

Jehovah  thy  God  for  the  good  land  which  he 

shall  give  thee. 

No  words  could  photograph  Palestine  better  than 
these  few  sentences.  Old  Testament  and  New  Testa- 
ment literature  abounds  in  metaphors  and  tropes  taken 
from  the  physical  features  of  this  goodly  land.  Recall 
Jeremiah's  ''fountain  of  living  waters"  and  Christ's 
words  regarding  "  the  well  of  water  springing  up  unto 
everlasting  life."  Even  within  the  shadows  of  the  walls 
of  Jerusalem,  in  Christ's  time,  the  Mount  of  Olives  stood 
clad  with  its  rich  growth  of  the  olive  tree.  These  phys- 
ical traits  were  not  unknown  in  the  time  of  Moses. 


HISTORICAL   INTRODUCTION.  I5I 

There  were  two  natural  highways  from  Palestine  to 
Egypt;  one  by  the  great  sea,  the  other  through  what 
the  Hebrews  called  the  Negeb  (the  South).  Abraham 
had  traversed  the  latter;  and  probably  the  way  by 
which  Jacob  went  into  Egypt  was  the  same.  In  the  time 
of  Moses,  travelers  from  the  north  probably  came  into 
Egypt  by  the  way  of  the  sea;  for  civilization  was  then 
more  largely  developed  in  the  fertile  regions  by  the 
shore.  The  common  knowledge  of  the  land  of  Canaan, 
gained  from  travelers,  was  that  it  was  a  land  of  valleys 
and  hills,  a  land  of  brooks  and  fountains,  a  land  of  fruit 
trees  and  grain.  Yet  not  the  Canaanite,  but  Moses,  rec- 
ognized that  this  land  was  a  land  that  ** Jehovah  careth 
for."  Every  Israelite  who  had  once  lived  in  his  own 
land  knew  well  the  truthfulness  of  this  description 
which  is  found  in  the  J  account. 

FAITH  IN  THE  PROMISE  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

JJ  11     For  the  land  whither  ye  shall  go  to  possess 

IJis  not  like  the  land  of  Egypt,  whence  ye  came 

out,  where  thou  sowest  thy  seed  and  waterest 

1}  it  with  thy  foot  as  gardens  of  herbs ;  but  the 

land  is  a  land  of  hills  and  valleys,  and  it  drink- 

9  eth  the  water  of   the  rain  of   heaven,  a  land 

whose  stones  are  iron  and  out  of  whose  hills 

thou  mayest  dig  brass,  a  land  where  thou  shalt 

eat  bread  without  scarceness,  and  thou  shalt  not 

J2  lack  anything  in  it.     The  eyes  of  Jehovah  thy 

God  are  always  upon  it,  from  the  beginning  of 

the  year  even  unto  the  end  of  the  year. 

The  two  descriptions  of  this  promised  land  are  alike 
in  the  great  physical  features;  the  land  in  both  has  hills 
and  valleys,  has  abundance  of  water,  is  very  fruitful,  and 
is  under  the  care  of  Jehovah.     Yet  how  various  is  the 


152  BOOK  OF  THE   COVENANT. 

language  of  description!  There  needed  a  compar- 
ison in  order  that  the  readers  of  E  should  understand. 
The  land  was  not  like  Egypt,  where  irrigation  was 
practiced.  If  Ezekiel  wrote  the  E  history,  such  a  man- 
ner of  writing  would  be  needed.  His  hearers,  many  of 
them,  knew  not  Palestine.  They  had  long  been  in  cap- 
tivity, brought  there  as  children  or  born  as  bondmen  to 
Assyria  and  Babylon.  Egypt  was  well  known  to  their 
captors;  its  type  of  civilization  and  its  mode  of  life 
were  common  knowledge  in  Babylon.  Hence  Pales- 
tine could  be  explained  to  the  Israelites  in  captivity  by  a 
comparison  with  Egypt.  Other  purpose  was  served  by 
this  method  of  making  clear  how  favored  was  the  land 
which  was  Israel's  inheritance.  At  the  time  the  chil- 
dren of  this  promised  land  were  in  captivity  to  Babylon, 
they  knew  what  scarceness  of  bread  meant.  They  knew 
also  what  it  was  to  lack  almost  everything.  Hence  the 
writer  of  the  E  narrative  used  language  and  rhetorical 
figures  which  not  only  illustrated  truthfully  the  land,  but 
at  the  same  time  created  longing  in  the  hearts  of  the 
Jews  by  the  river  Chebar  for  the  land  which  was  prom- 
ised by  an  oath  of  Jehovah  to  their  fathers. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  TABLES  OF  TESTIMONY. 

The  traditional  belief  relative  to  these  two  tables  is 
that  they  contained  ten  precepts  of  incalculable  worth, 
and  obligatory  not  alone  upon  Israel  but  upon  all  man- 
Kind.  The  decalogue  found  in  Exodus,  and  repeated 
almost  verbally  in  Deuteronomy,  has  been  regarded  as 
giving  to  mankind  the  precepts  upon  these  two  tables 
of  the  law.  Higher  criticism,  however,  claims  to  show 
that  these  ten  precepts  in  Exodus  or  Deuteronomy  were 
unknown  to  Moses;  and  not  even  Samuel  nor  the  early 
kings  of  Israel  knew  them ;  but  that  they  were  the  high- 
est generalizations  of  a  late  age,  and  were  placed  back 
in  the  Mosaic  times  to  give  them  a  high  respectability. 

If  now  we  consider  the  contents  of  a  decalogue,  which 
higher  criticism  proffers  as  nearest  to  the  time  of  Moses, 
and  which  these  critics  find  either  in  the  Book  of  the 
Covenant  or  the  Words  of  the  Covenant,  seven  of  the 
precepts  cannot  be  regarded  as  universal,  namely, 
those  referring  to  the  firsthngs  and  the  first  fruits,  to 
the  several  feasts,  and  to  the  seething  of  the  kid. 
Three  only  rank  high  as  ethical  generalizations,  namely, 
that  which  requires  monotheism,  that  which  prohibits 
idol  worship,  that  which  institutes  the  sabbath.  Recon- 
structive criticism  contends  that  such  a  decalogue  can 
hardly  be  regarded  as  suitable  for  a  covenant  to  rest 
upon.  The  least  requirement  of  a  covenant  among  men 
is  that  unchangeable  elements  enter  into  it;  much  more 
needful  is  it  that  the  terms  of  a  covenant  with  Jehovah 

(153) 


154  BOOK  OF  THE   COVENANT. 

should  be  such  as  after  ages  would  consider  immutable 
and  worthy  of  respect. 

Reconstructive  criticism  finds  an  introductory  sen- 
tence placed  before  the  Tables  of  Testimony  in  each  of 
its  versions,  which  serves  as  a  prefatory  exhortation. 

INTRODUCTORT  SENTENCE  ACCORDING  TO  /. 

^^_  20  -^^^  y^  shall  observe  to  do  all  the  testimonies 
and  statutes  which  Jehovah  our  God  commands 
you. 

INTRODUCTORT  SENTENCE  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

17  And  ye  shall  diligently  keep  the  command- 
ments of  Jehovah  your  God,  his  testimonies  and 
his  statutes. 

This  utterance  simply  declares  that  the  testimonies  and 
statutes  are  the  significant  elements  in  this  Book  of  the 
Covenant  which  Moses  was  reading  to  Israel.  The 
statutes  are  what  our  modern  times  would  call  ecclesias- 
tical canons.  They  make  up  the  second  part  of  this 
civil  and  religious  law  book  which  Moses  had  prepared 
under  the  commandment  of  Jehovah. 

Of  all  the  statutes  in  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  ex- 
cepting the  statute  respecting  the  eating  of  blood  and 
the  sabbath,  not  one  has  ever  become  adopted  by  a  re- 
ligious practice  among  Christian  nations.  And  yet  not 
a  statute  is  found  in  the  covenant  book  but  has  left  its 
terminology  as  a  rich  inheritance  for  our  Christian  faith. 
What  these  statutes  sought  to  secure,  we  still  seek  to 
obtain.  The  offering,  the  perfect  sacrifice,  the  sab- 
bath, the  memorial  supper,  the  atonement,  are  expres- 
sions to-day  filled  with  the  profoundest  significance.  A 
wonderful  book  then  is  this  Book  of  the  Covenant,  since 
its  commandments  furnish  the  foundations  for  the  high- 


THE  TABLES   OF  TESTIMONY.  I55 

est  ethical  and  social  life,  and  its  statutes  embody  the 
principles  underlying  our  Christian  faith. 

The  two  Tables  of  the  Law  which  reconstructive  criti- 
cism restores  meet  the  requirement  which  we  proposed, 
namely,  that  its  ten  precepts  are  universal  in  their 
character  and  of  such  a  nature  as  to  be  binding  not 
upon  Israel  alone,  but  upon  all  men.  Before  we  pre- 
sent these  two  Tables  of  Testimony,  it  is  but  just  to 
recall  that  reconstructive  criticism,  out  of  the  three  most 
ancient  codes  which  higher  criticism  recognizes,  has  re- 
stored the  decalogue  in  the  Mosaic  Tora,  giving  it  in 
two  copies ;  also  the  decalogue  in  the  Sinaitic  Tora,  giv- 
ing it  in  two  copies.  After  extracting  these  decalogues, 
each  in  two  copies,  from  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  the 
Laws  of  Holiness,  and  the  Deutronomic  Code  as  recog- 
nized by  higher  criticism,  it  was  highly  improbable  that 
the  residuum  should  contain  another  decalogue  in  two 
copies.  We  now  propose  to  give  the  two  Tables  of  the 
Law.  Each  table  has  five  precepts,  which  may  be  char- 
acterized as  fundamental  ethical  duties  and  fundamental 
social  duties.  If  we  use  the  expressions  with  some  lati- 
tude, we  may  designate  one  table  as  containing  the  du- 
ties to  God,  and  the  other  as  containing  the  duties  to 
man. 

FIRST  TABLE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
I. 
L  f^  Thou  shalt  fear  thy  God. 

II. 
L  55  Ye  shall  not  oppress  one    another. 

III. 
E  ^  Thou  shalt  make  thee  no  molten  gods. 

IV. 

L  JJ  Thou  shalt  not  profane  the  name  of  thy  God. 


156  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

V. 
E  5  Verily  ye  shall  keep  my  sabbaths. 

Practical  atheism  begins  as  soon  as  reverential  fear 
of  God  is  lost.  That  damnable  law,  that  might  is  right, 
has  its  first  sure  recognition  when  man  may  oppress  his 
neighbor.  Spiritual  worship  is  departed  from,  and 
man  enters  upon  the  lifeless  faith  of  materialism,  when- 
ever God  is  seen  in  or  through  an  idol.  The  holy  of 
holies  is  wrested  out  of  the  heart  of  man  or  woman  so 
soon  as  the  sacred  name  of  God  is  profaned.  Human 
life  becomes  but  one  mechanical,  wearisome  round  of 
toil  unless  broken  into  by  the  sabbaths  of  God.  These 
precepts  are  universal,  and  obedience  to  them  will 
ever  keep  man  conscious  of  that  higher  life  in  him 
which  distinguishes  a  man  from  the  brute  creation. 

FIRST  TABLE  ACCORDING  TO  E, 

I. 

L  ^  Thou  shalt  fear  thy  God. 

II. 
L  14  Ye  shall  not  oppress  one  another. 

III. 
L  ^\  Make  not  for  yourselves  molten  gods. 

IV. 

L  J®  Thou  shalt  not  profane  the  name  of  thy  God. 

V. 

L  ^5  Ye  shall  keep  my  sabbaths. 

There  is  almost  verbal  identity  between  these  two 
copies  of  the  first  table.  Now  had  we  reconstructed 
this  table  before  we  had  removed  the  copies  of  the 
first  table  in  the  decalogues  of  the  Mosaic  and  Sinaitic 


THE  TABLES  OF  TESTIMONY.  I57 

toras,  it  would  not  have  been  surprising  that  two  such 
tables  as  these  here  presented  could  have  been  made. 
But  when  out  of  the  residuum  we  find  material  which 
could  be  arranged  in  this  fashion,  it  is  a  most  convin- 
cing assurance  that  reconstructive  criticism  is  right  in 
its  theory. 

The  second  Table  of  Testimony  relates  to  funda- 
mental social  duties.  We  mean  by  this  designation 
that  the  precepts  in  this  second  table  are  of  such  high 
character  that  society  loses  its  foundation  unless  they 
are  recognized,  that  disobedience  to  any  or  all  must 
disrupt  sooner  or  later  the  social  fabric,  and  catastro- 
phe is  inevitable. 

SECOND  TABLE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
VI. 
\  L  ^       Every  man  that  curseth  his  father  or 

his  mother  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 

VII. 

L  i2      He   who  committeth   adultery  with  his 
"  neighbor's  wife,  that  man  and  that  woman 
N  J^  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 

VIII. 

L  1*      He  that  killeth  a  man  shall  surely  be  put 
to  death. 

IX. 

E  17      Thou  shalt  not  covet. 

X. 

L 1?      Ye  shall  not  lie. 

The  sixth  command  secures  filial  obedience.  Aw- 
ful is  the  penalty  imposed  upon  that  child  that  curseth 
father  or  mother.     With  this  precept  in  the  civil  code 


158  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

of  a  people,  it  is  not  singular  that  parental  regard  with 
them  amounted  to  one  of  the  highest  duties.  And  we 
should  consider  that  the  nation  to  whom  we  are  in- 
debted for  the  expression  of  this  duty  is  also  the  nation 
from  whom  we  receive  the  words,  *'Our  Father  who 
art  in  heaven."  This  fact  gives  a  new  significance  to 
the  thought  that  disobedience  to  God,  leading  to  the 
cursing  of  him,  is  fraught  with  fearful  penalty.  Hus- 
band and  wife  are  to  have  greatest  import  in  Israel, 
since  infidelity  of  either  involves  death  to  the  guilty 
ones.  Murder  is  an  act  of  the  highest  violence,  and  it 
is  to  be  visited  with  the  punishment  of  death.  The 
last  two  precepts  secure  property  rights  so  far  as  pos- 
session is  concerned,  and  judicial  right  so  far  as  it  is 
dependent  upon  truth-telling.  Respecting  this  latter 
table,  it  is  evident  that  no  age  and  no  community  of 
civilized  men  can  safely  dispense  with  any  one  of  its 
precepts.  They  are  universal  in  import  and  applica- 
tion. If  the  requirement  of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant 
be  that  the  commandments  therein  be  worthy  of  God, 
their  Giver,  then  not  higher  criticism,  but  reconstruct- 
ive criticism,  meets  the  demand. 

SECOND  TABLE  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

VI. 

lJ}^  l  ^I       He  that  curseth  his  father  or  his  mother 
L  5J  shall  surely  be  put  to  death. 

VII. 

LiS      He    who  committeth  adultery  with    a 
22  man's  wife,  the    man    that    lay  with    the 
eJI  woman    and   the  woman   shall  surely  be 
put  to  death. 


THE  TABLES  OF  TESTIMONY.  1 59 

VIII. 

L  l{       He  that  killeth  a  man  shall  surely  be 
put  to  death. 

IX. 

21      Thou  shalt  not  covet. 

X. 

L  {^     Thou  shalt  not  He  one  to  another. 

The  sixth  command  was  scattered  widely.  From 
lS  we  take  **he  that  curseth,"  because  **  blaspheme" 
was  the  offense ;  and  this  incident  was  the  occasion  of 
one  of  the  curses  of  the  Sinaitic  Tora.  **His  father 
and  his  mother"  is  taken  from  l^',  because  **fear"  is 
commanded  toward  Jehovah,  not  toward  man.  The 
phrase  *' shall  surely  die"  is  redundant:  stoning  was 
the  punishment. 

The  section  of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  which  in- 
cludes the  Tables  of  Testimony  closes  with  hortatory 
words.  The  character  of  these  words  reveals  how  con- 
fident Moses  was  that  the  tables  were  not  an  ephemeral 
writing,  but  that  they  had  grave  import  for  Israel  in  all 
coming  time, 

HORTATORY  WORDS  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
I2  And  thou  shalt  observe  and  do  these  [com- 
^omandments]  that  thou  may  est  live  and  inherit 
the  land  which  Jehovah  thy  God  shall  give 
9  thee  ;  and  thou  shalt  teach  them  to  thy  son  and 
\  thy  son's  son,  that  ye  may  learn  and  keep  them 
\  and  do  them  in  the  land  whither  ye  go  to  pos- 
sess. 

HORTATORT  WORDS  ACCORDING  TO  E. 
\      And  ye  shall  observe  to  do  all  the  command- 
4  ments  which  I  command  thee  this  day ;  and 


l6o  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

when  thou  shalt  beget  children  and  children's 
3I  children,  ye  shall  walk  in  all  the  way  which 
"Jehovah  your  God  commandeth  you,  and  ye 
^3  shall  prolong  your  days  in  the  land  which  Je- 
hovah thy  God  shall  give  thee  to  inherit. 

The  glance  down  the  years  is  made  by  the  speaker 
with  full  confidence  in  Jehovah,  and  fear  only  lest 
Israel  abide  not  faithful  to  the  Tables  of  Testimony. 
The  great  longing  of  the  people  who  were  listening  to 
his  words  was  for  the  promised  land.  This  motive 
Moses  seizes  upon,  and  declares  that  life  and  continu- 
ance in  that  land  which  they  should  inherit  depended 
upon  fidelity  to  all  these  commandments., 

Reconstructive  criticism  affirms  that  the  precepts 
of  these  Tables  of  Testimony,  which  it  has  recovered, 
are  in  accord  with  the  high  claims  which  tradition  has 
associated  with  the  Ten  Commandments;  for  tradition 
declares  that  the  Tables  of  Testimony  were  the  work  of 
God.  All  history  has  made  evident  that  there  is  no 
foundation  for  a  high  and  noble  ethics  and  an  abiding 
and  worthy  social  order  except  as  they  are  reached 
through  the  principles  involved  in  these  tables.  A  civ- 
ilization wrought  out  under  the  molding  power  of  these 
precepts  could  not  but  have  unspeakable  interest  for 
the  nations  of  the  earth.  And  to-day  those  Scriptures 
which  are  known  as  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  have  all 
their  worth  centered  in  either  the  experience  of  Israel 
as  recorded  when  faithful  to  these  precepts,  or  in  the 
wonderful  utterances  of  the  prophets  of  Israel  when 
they  besought  their  own  people  to  return  to  the  cove- 
nant with  Jehovah  which  they  had  broken. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

STATUTES  RESPECTING  THE  ALTAR  AND  THE  OFFERING. 

The  Deuteronomic  Code  of  higher  criticism  is  im- 
portant to  the  higher  critic,  not  only  because  it  furnishes 
the  first  sure  data  in  his  view  for  the  assignment  of  dates 
to  his  several  codes  and  documents,  but  also  because 
the  statutes  in  this  code  respecting  the  cultus  make  it 
not  difficult  for  him  to  confirm  the  date  of  the  Deuter- 
onomic Code  by  cultus-facts  taken  from  the  historical 
books.  Higher  critics  have  pointed  out  that  the  high 
places  (Bamoth)  were  legitimate  places  of  worship  for 
Israel.  On  them  sacrifices  were  offered.  Such  places 
were  Shechem,  Beersheba,  Bethel,  Bochim,  Ophrah, 
Zorah,  Mizpah.  These  were  places  of  theophany, 
some  dating  back  into  the  patriarchal  times,  and  were 
held  in  high  veneration  by  the  Israelites  in  the  times  of 
Samuel,  David,  Solomon,  and  later  kings,  until  the 
times  of  Josiah.  Wellhausen  truly  says:  ''If  the  peo- 
ple and  judges  or  kings  alike,  priests  and  prophets, 
men  like  Samuel  and  Elijah,  sacrificed  without  hesita- 
tion whenever  occasion  and  opportunity  presented  them- 
selves, it  is  manifest  that  during  the  whole  of  that  pe- 
riod nobody  had  the  faintest  suspicion  that  such  conduct 
was  heretical  and  forbidden."  (** Prolegomena,"  p. 
21.)  But  when  Wellhausen  affirms  that  ''the  system  of 
high  places  (Bamoth),  with  all  the  apparatus  thereto 
belonging,  is  certainly  Canaanite  originally,"  we  simply 
assert  that  priest  and  prophet,  judge,  king,  and  people, 
one  and  all,  were  taught  from  the  time  of  Moses  that 
anything  of  this  character,  of  Canaanitic  origin,  was  an 
II  {i6i) 


l62  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

abomination  and  abhorred  by  Jehovah.  The  Canaan- 
ites  truly  worshiped  on  hills  and  amid  groves ;  but  this 
worship  was  foreign  to  Israel.  And  when  this  people 
Israel  became  apostate  in  the  time  of  the  judges  and 
afterwards,  and  did  adopt  Canaanitic  worship  and 
served  their  gods,  such  conduct  was  in  violation  of  the 
fundamental  principles  of  Israel's  religion,  and  brought 
upon  them  the  punishments  of  Jehovah. 

In  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  which  reconstructive 
criticism  restores  there  are  five  statutes  which  are  more 
or  less  closely  connected  with  the  altar  and  the  sacri- 
fice. The  remarkable  fitness  seen  in  these  statutes  for 
a  people  who  had  the  great  and  peculiar  ancestral  tradi- 
tions of  Israel  will  become  apparent  as  soon  as  they  are 
considered. 

LAW  OF  THE  ALTAR  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

^\      In  the  place  where  Jehovah  thy  God  shall 
E^2  choose  to  place  his  name,  an  altar  of  earth 

'\  THOU  SHALT  MAKE  UNTO  ME.       But  thoU  may- 

est  build  the  altar  of  Jehovah  thy  God  of  whole 

^5  stones ;  thou  shalt  not  lift  any  iron  tool  upon 

E  24  them.     And  thou   shalt  sacrifice   thereon  thy 

•  burnt  offering  and  thy  peace  offering,  thy  sheep 

^\  and  thy  oxen,  and  thou  shalt  eat  there  and  re- 

E 24  joice  before  Jehovah  thy  God.     And  in  all 

PLACES    WHERE    I    RECORD    MY    NAME,  I   will 

come  unto  thee  and  bless  thee. 

In  places  of  theophany  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
had  builded  altars  and  offered  burnt  offerings  unto  God. 
Shechem,  Beersheba,  and  Bethel  were  such  places. 
These  altars  must  have  been  of  earth  or  unhewn  stones. 
Such  altars  are  commanded  by  statute  for  Israel  in  the 
Book  of  the  Covenant.     A  kind  of  offering  is  instituted 


THE  ALTAR  AND  THE  OFFERING.  163 

at  Mount  Horeb  unknown  to  the  Hebrew  traditions  be- 
fore Moses's  time.  It  is  the  peace  offering.  Yet  Israel, 
while  listening  to  the  words  of  this  book,  recalled  the 
offerings  made  when  Moses  had  come  down  from  the 
mountain,  after  he  had  made  by  intercession  peace  for 
Israel  with  Jehovah.  Times  of  offering  were  also  times 
of  rejoicing,  and  from  the  slaughtered  animals  parts 
might  be  eaten ;  but  the  feast  must  be  in  the  sight  of  the 
erected  altar. 

LAW  OF  THE  ALTAR  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

^\      And   in  the  place  where  Jehovah   thy  God 
E  24  shall  choose  to  place  his  name,  an  altar  of 

E^^  EARTH  THOU  SHALT  MAKE   UNTO  ME.       But  if 

thou  wilt  make  unto  me  an  altar  of  stones,  thou 

shalt  not  build  it  of  hewn  stones ;   for  if  thou 

lift  up  thy  tool  upon  it,  thou  hast  polluted  it. 

^6  And  thou  shalt  offer  thereon  unto  Jehovah  thy 

^2, "  God  of  thy  herd  and  of  thy  flock  burnt  offer- 

^7, 20  irigs,  and  thou  shalt  offer  peace  offerings,  and 

thou  shalt  eat  before  Jehovah  thy  God,  thou 

E^^and  thy  household.      And   in  every  place 

E  ^  WHERE  I  RECORD  MY  NAME,  I  wiU  mcct  there 

with  the  children  of  Israel. 

The  most  striking  difference  in  these  two  versions  of 
this  statute  is  that  the  E  version  declares  the  lifting  up 
a  tool  to  grave  a  stone  of  the  altar  pollutes  it.  Other- 
wise they  substantially  agree.  It  is  this  statute  of  the 
Book  of  the  Covenant  which  makes  legitimate  the  high 
places  (Bamoth)that  in  after  times  were  places  of  offer- 
ing for  the  Israelite.  These  places  had  the  warrant  of 
the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  therefore  neither  judge  nor 
king  nor  prophet  dared  inveigh  against  their  sanctity. 
Rather  judge,  king,  and  prophet  at  times  made  offering 


164  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

on  these  high  places.  With  this  statute  in  a  document 
of  Mosaic  origin,  the  attitude  of  Samuel  toward  the 
high  places  can  be  understood;  for  it  must  be  re- 
membered (higher  criticism  to  the  contrary)  that  the 
prophet  Samuel  knew  well  the  cultus  at  the  central 
sanctuary  at  Shiloh,  which  the  Philistines  had  quite  an- 
nihilated in  their  wrath  against  Israel.  Though  Shiloh 
had  been  destroyed,  this  prophet  could  appeal  to  the 
sanctity  of  the  high  places  as  the  abiding  possessions 
of  Israel,  which  no  enemy  in  his  wrath  could  remove. 
This  statute  alone  can  explain  why  David,  who  sought 
in  the  tabernacle  which  he  set  up  to  centralize  worship 
in  Judah,  did  not  dare  to  lift  his  hand  against  the  high 
places;  for  these  had  the  authority  of  ancient  custom, 
and  more,  the  sanction  of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant. 

Perhaps  no  part  of  the  noble  civilization  of  Israel  is 
less  understood  than  its  sacrificial  system.  Like  the 
elements  of  the  toras,  so  its  cultus  elements  were  scat- 
tered. Higher  criticism  rests  its  inferences  concerning 
the  dates  of  its  several  codes  mainly  upon  different  sac- 
rificial usages.  Civil  regulations  furnish  scarcely  any 
help  to  the  higher  critics.  Canon  Farrar  says,  respect- 
ing sacrifice  among  the  Hebrews,  that  **  originally  sac- 
rifice was  a  glad  meal."  The  burnt  offering  was  asso- 
ciated with  a  meal  not  alone  in  Moses's  time,  but  in  the 
time  of  Isaac,  and  even  of  Abraham,  as  the  records 
show.  In  the  statute  concerning  the  law  of  the  altar, 
Israel  is  commanded  to  "  eat  and  rejoice  before  Jeho- 
vah." It  is  then  most  evident  that  Jehovah  did  not  re- 
quire for  himself  in  an  offering  the  parts  which  were 
most  suitable  for  food. 

Higher  criticism  recognizes  the  ritualistic  precept  in 
Exodus  xxiii.  i  as  very  ancient,  belonging  in  fact  to  the 


STATUTES   RESPECTING  THE  ALTAR.  165 

decalogue  as  found  in  its  Book  of  the  Covenant.  This 
precept  required  that  **  the  fat  of  my  sacrifice  shall  not 
be  left  until  morning."  The  parallel  injunction  in  Ex- 
odus xxxiv.  25  indicates  also  that  the  sacrifice  is  not  to 
be  left  till  morning;  for  the  words  '*  of  my  passover  " 
in  the  passage  are  considered  harmonistic.  Fairly  then 
we  may  claim  that  this  ritualistic  statement  has  refer- 
ence simply  to  the  flesh  of  the  sacrifice,  and  that  the  word 
*'  fat  "  is  here  interpolated.  Again  the  word  *'  blood  " 
is  misplaced  in  this  precept  for  the  same  reason  that 
**fat"  and  ''passover"  are  so  strangely  interjected. 
In  an  offering  then  it  is  the  fat  which  belongs  to  Jeho- 
vah. It  is  the  fat  which  in  Israel  constitutes  the  princi- 
pal part  of  all  that  is  consumed  on  the  altar.  Indeed, 
it  may  be  doubtful  if,  until  after  the  Israelitish  worship 
became  corrupted  by  the  worst  of  Israel's  kings,  whole 
burnt  offerings  were  ever  consecrated  to  Jehovah. 

THE  LAW  OF  THE  OFFERING  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
L,6,E25  All  the  fat  is  Jehovah's.  And  thou 
shalt  not  offer  (the  flesh)  of  my  sacrifice,  nor 
shall  any  of  the  sacrifice  remain  until  morn- 
27  ing.  And  the  blood  shall  be  poured  out 
upon  the  altar  of  Jehovah  thy  God,  but  the 
flesh  thou  mayest  eat. 

As  this  statute  is  reconstructed,  it  is  in  harmony  with 
the  very  spirit  of  the  Mosaic  regulations.  Israel  is  to 
be  a  separated  people.  It  was  not  new  that  the  fat  should 
be  burned;  the  Canaanitish  custom  was  to  arrange 
the  wood,  then  the  flesh,  then  the  fat;  and  as  the  heat 
melted  the  fat,  it  made  an  oil  that  ran  down  over  the 
flesh  and  made  it  consume  the  more  quickly.  The 
Mosaic  statute  retains  the  custom  of  making  an  offer- 
ing, removes  the  flesh  from  the  altar  (whose  burning 


l66  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

must  have  been  very  offensive),  retains  the  fat  upon 
the  altar,  whose  burning  sends  aloft  a  clear,  high,  and 
glowing  flame.  The  flesh,  which  is  taken  from  the 
altar,  is  handed  over  to  the  people  to  eat.  Thus  Is- 
rael's offering  was  differentiated  from  the  Canaanitish. 
The  blood  of  the  offering  was  poured  round  about  the 
altar.  Whatever  of  the  flesh  was  not  eaten  in  this 
eucharistic  feast  of  the  people  at  the  time  of  the  sacri- 
fice must  be  destroyed.  It  may  not  be  kept  for  the 
food  of  another  day.  If  this  law  had  been  obeyed,  the 
flesh  of  the  sacrifices  of  Jehovah  in  after  times  would 
never  have  been  sold  in  the  shambles. 

THE  LAW  OF  THE  OFFERING  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

LjJ^Eil       All  the  fat  is  Jehovah's.     And  thou 

shalt  not  offer  (the  flesh)  of  my  sacrifice.     Nor 

shall  any  of  my  sacrifice  remain  until  morning. 

27  And    the   blood  of    thy    sacrifices    shall    be 

POURED  upon  the  altar  of  Jehovah  thy  God, 

27^  ^2  but  the  flesh  thou  mayest  eat  it. 

The  ordinance  is  the  same  as  in  J.  The  altar  upon 
which  this  offering  is  made  is  simple  in  the  extreme; 
there  is  not  the  first  stroke  of  an  iron  tool  upon  it  to 
give  it  a  beautiful  or  a  mystical  form.  And  it  is  the 
ground  round  about  the  altar  which  drinketh  up  the 
blood  of  the  sacrifice. 

Offerings  were  to  be  taken  from  the  flocks  and  the 
herds.     Yet  care  is  required  in  the  selection.     The  per- 
fect only  could  be  brought  unto  Jehovah  for  sacrifice. 
LAW  OF  THE  VICTIM  ACCORDING  TO/. 
"       Thou  shalt  not  sacrifice  unto  Jehovah  thy 
God  bullock  or  sheep  wherein  is  any  blemish 
or  any  ill-favoredness  ;  for  it  is  an  abomination 
unto  Jehovah  thy  God. 


STATUTES   RESPECTING  THE  ALTAR.  167 

LAW  OF  THE  VICTIM  ACCORDING  TO  E. 
2?       And  if  there  be  blemish  therein,  lame  or 
blind,  or  any  ill-blemish,  thou  shalt  not  sacri- 
fice it  unto  Jehovah  thy  God. 

In  view  of  this  statute,  venerated  by  the  Israelites 
from  the  beginning  of  their  history  as  a  nation,  not 
strange  is  it  that  in  the  second  dispensation,  which  ap- 
peared within  the  limits  of  the  first,  there  should  be  one 
requirement  of  him  who  offered  himself  a  sacrifice  for 
all  mankind,  namely,  that  he  should  be  without  spot 
or  blemish. 

The  next  law  respects  wild  game.  The  giving  of 
this  law  is  evidence  that  in  the  ancient  world  there  was 
a  strong  tendency  adrift  in  the  family  of  the  Sethites  to 
confine  man  to  a  strictly  vegetable  diet.  Singular  in- 
deed is  it  that  there  exists  in  the  Eden  regulations  one 
that  confines  Adam  to  a  diet  taken  from  the  trees  and 
the  herbs  of  the  field.  In  the  Book  of  the  Covenant 
there  is  given  permission  to  Israel  to  eat  game.  The 
restriction  is  that  the  blood  shall  not  be  eaten. 

THE  LAW  OF  GAME-EATING  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
\  22       As  the  roebuck  and  as  the   hart,  ye   may 
L  }J  eat  these ;    but  ye  shall  eat  the  blood  of  no 
manner  of  flesh. 


THE  LAW  OF  GAME-EATING  ACCORDING  TO  E, 

22       Even  as  the  roebuck  and  the  hart  are  eaten, 
L  Ja  so  thou  mayest  eat  them,  but  no  soul  of  you 
shall  eat  blood. 

This  law,  although  not  strictly  one  of  the  cultus  laws, 
is  nevertheless  associated  with  them.  The  precept  is 
one  of  several  by  which  it  is  sought  to  impress  Israel 
to  regard  blood  with  peculiar  sacredness.    The  last  law 


l68  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

found  in  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  relating  to  the  altar 
and  the  offering  is  the  Law  of  Defilement.  If  there 
were  doubt  of  the  Mosaic  origin  of  the  laws  already 
considered,  it  would  disappear  because  of  the  manner 
in  which  this  law  is  attached  to  the  history  of  Israel; 
for  at  this  time  Israel  had  not  been  six  months  escaped 
from  Egypt,  that  house  of  bondage,  and  yet  the  way 
this  law  is  associated  with  the  future  of  Israel  makes 
the  strongest  possible  confirmation  that  this  law  and  all 
that  is  connected  with  it  arose  out  of  the  Mosaic  epoch. 

LAW  OF  DEFILEMENT  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

L  25  And  ye  shall  not  make  yourselves  abomina- 
ble with  beast  or  fowl  or  any  manner  of  living 

L.4J  thing  that  creepeth  on  the  ground.  Neither 
shall  ye  make  yourselves   unclean  with   them 

L^lthat  ye  should  be  defiled  thereby.  And  after 
the  doings  of   the  land  of  Canaan  whither  I 

L  2?  bring  you,  ye  shall  not  do  ;  for  all  these  abom- 
inations have  the  men  of  the  land  w^hich  were 

L  25  before  you  done,  and  the  land  is  defiled.  And 
the  land   itself  vomiteth  out    her  inhabitants. 

L,  23  But  ye  shall  not  walk  after  the  manner  of  the 

L agnations  which  I  shall  cast  out  before  you,  that 
the  land  spew  you  not  out  also  when  you  defile 

L  26  it.  Ye  shall  therefore  keep  my  statutes,  and 
shall   not  commit  any  of   these  abominations. 

L26  And  ye  shall  be  holy  unto  me ;  for  I  Jehovah 
am   holy,   and   have   severed   you   from   other 

L  2?  people,  that  ye  should  be  mine,  and  a  land  that 
floweth  with  milk  and  honey  I  will  give  you 
to  possess  it. 

There  is  in  J  no  mention  of  Egypt;   but  one  feels 
that  the  enumerations  of  the  things  by  which  abomina- 


STATUTES  RESPECTING  THE  ALTAR.       1 69 

tion  might  be  wrought  and  defilement  effected  were 
well  known  to  the  hearers.  Vague  reports  must  have 
come  to  these  enslaved  Israelites,  while  they  were  in 
Egypt,  of  the  practices  of  the  Canaanites.  Yet  Moses 
tells  them  that  such  abominations  as  they  had  seen  and 
such  defilement  as  they  had  witnessed  were  common 
transgressions  in  the  land  whither  Jehovah  would  lead 
them.  The  energetic  language  in  which  these  facts  are 
set  forth  immediately  strikes  attention.  The  conduct 
of  these  nations  and  the  punishment  to  be  visited  by 
Jehovah  upon  them  are  warnings  why  Israel  should 
keep  the  commandments  and  statutes  to  which  they 
were  listening.  The  close  of  the  annunciation  of  this 
law  emphasizes  the  only  ground  on  which  Israel  might 
hope  for  the  continued  favor  of  Jehovah.  Israel  must 
be  holy  like  their  God. 

LAJV  OF  DEFILEMENT  ACCORDING  TO  B. 

L  ^       Ye  shall  put  a  difference  between  clean  and 
unclean  beasts,  between  unclean  fowl  and  clean, 
L  43  and  ye  shall  not  make  yourselves  abominable 
L^  with  any  creeping  thing  that  creepeth,  neither 
shall  ye  defile  yourselves  with  any  manner  of 
creeping   thing  that  creepeth  upon  the  earth. 
L.  ^1  And  after  the  doings  of   the  land  of   Egypt 
L  24  wherein   ye    dwelt,   shall    ye    not   do.     Defile 
yourselves  not  in  any  of  these  things ;  for  in 
all  these  things  the  nations  are  defiled  which  I 
lJI  will  cast  out  before  you.     And  the  land  is  de- 
filed.    Therefore  I  do  visit  the  iniquity  thereof 
L  ^  upon  it.     Ye  shall  therefore  keep  all  my  stat- 
utes and  do  them,  that  the  land  whither  I  bring 
L  2I  you  to  dwell  therein  spew  you  not  out  as  it 
L  ^  spewed  out  the  nations  before  you ;  for  they 


170  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

committed  all  these  things,  and  therefore  I  ab- 
t.  2?  horred  them.     I  am  Jehovah  your  God  which 

have    separated    you    from    all   other    people : 

L  Jl  therefore  ye  shall  sanctify  yourselves,  for  I  am 

lJI  l  24  holy.     And  I  say  unto  you,  you  shall  inherit 

their  land. 

Apart  from  different  phraseology,  which  a  mere 
reading  of  E  immediately  discloses,  there  is  reference 
to  Egypt,  which  recalls  a  trait  in  E  pointed  out  before. 
Yet  with  these  differences  we  still  discern  essentially  the 
same  facts  in  both  versions.  Each  requires  that  Israel 
should  make  a  distinction  between  clean  and  unclean; 
that  they  should  understand  it  was  the  abominations 
and  defilements  of  the  Canaanites  which  caused  the 
land  to  spew  them  out;  that  Israel  would  be  preserved 
from  these  transgressions  if  they  would  keep  Jehovah's 
statutes;  that  as  Jehovah  is  holy,  so  should  Israel  be. 
These  five  statutes  concerning  the  altar  and  offering 
make  a  complete,  although  not  an  elaborate,  ritual,  and 
together  constitute  the  first  stage  of  the  religious  cultus, 
which  Moses  mediated  to  Israel. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

STATUTES  RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS. 

The  destructive  views  of  higher  criticism  are  perilous 
only  as  they  subvert  the  development  of  the  history  of 
Israel  as  wrought  out  under  the  human  guidance  of 
Israel's  great  lawgiver  and  of  the  prophets.  All  the 
wonderful  literature  of  the  Hebrews  has  been  strangely 
scattered  and  dispersed.  Narratives  of  the  same  event 
have  been  massed  into  a  strange  conglomerate;  the 
laws  and  statutes  of  different  parts  have  been  strangely 
jumbled  together;  the  words  of  the  several  prophets 
are  rent  from  their  appropriate  places,  and  left  often- 
times without  even  a  possible  rational  sequence  with  the 
associated  matter.  Error  must  ensue,  if  we  take  a  col- 
lection of  ill-arranged  laws  and  statutes — and  not  that 
alone,  but  remarkably  defective  when  viewed  as  a 
whole — and  name  them  a  code  because  they  are  found 
massed  together  in  a  book,  whose  contents  have  suf- 
fered strange  commingling.  Yet  such  has  been  the 
method  of  the  higher  critics.  For  what  else  but  a 
senseless  jumble  is  the  code  which  they  call  the  JE 
Code?  or  what  else  but  a  hodgepodge  is  the  earliest 
collection  of  the  priestly  code,  which  Klosterman  named 
the  Laws  of  Holiness?  or  what  indeed  is  the  Deuter- 
onomic  Code  but  a  group  of  commandments  and  stat- 
utes without  form  or  logical  sequence?  These  facts 
are  admitted  by  the  higher  critics  themselves.  It  would 
have  been  more  scientific  to  examine  these  collections 
and  inquire  whether  they  ever  formed  one  or  several 
consistent  codes.  Investigation  connected  with  such  an 
inquiry  has  been  the  work  of  the  reconstructive  critic. 

("70 


1^2  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

Perhaps  Wellhausen  is  at  his  best  in  the  romancing 
which  he  does  upon  the  sacred  feasts.  The  Passover 
is,  according  to  his  view,  an  old  pastoral  feast,  dim  re- 
minder of  Israel's  life  as  a  shepherd  people  and  deriv- 
able from  a  most  ancient  custom  of  sacrificing  to  God 
the  firstlings  of  the  flock.  This  critic  reasons  out  that 
the  Feast  of  Unleavened  Bread  is  '*  equivalent  to  that 
of  the  putting  in  of  the  sickle  to  the  corn,"  a  kind  of 
Easter,  a  spring  feast  followed  by  Pentecost,  the  Feast 
of  the  Weeks,  which  was  celebrated  at  the  close  of  the 
reaping.  The  Feast  of  the  Tabernacles  is  "the  autum- 
nal ingathering  of  the  wine  and  of  the  oil  from  the  vat 
and  the  press,  and  of  the  corn  from  the  threshing- 
floor."  Omitting  now  the  Passover,  this  brilliant  critic 
accounts  for  the  feasts  of  Unleavened  Bread,  of  the 
Weeks,  and  of  the  Tabernacles  in  the  following  way: 
"Agriculture  was  learned  by  the  Hebrews  from  the 
Canaanites,  in  whose  land  they  had  settled,  and  in  com- 
mingling with  whom  they,  during  the  period  of  the 
Judges,  made  the  transition  to  a  sedentary  life.  Be- 
fore the  metamorphosis  of  the  shepherds  into  the  peas- 
ants was  effected,  they  could  not  have  had  possibly 
feasts  which  relate  to  agriculture.  It  would  have  been 
very  strange  if  they  had  not  taken  them  also  over  from 
the  Canaanites."     (Proleg.,  p.  93.) 

Israel  indeed  had  two  agricultural  feasts,  but  they 
were  not  learned  from  the  Canaanites;  rather  they 
were  established  while  the  Israelites  lived  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  Paran,  and  were  observed  there  for  thirty-eight 
years.  The  Sinaitic  Tora  contains  the  enactment. 
The  Mosaic  Tora  repeats  them,  and  in  such  form  as  to 
make  clear  that  they  stand  as  protests  to  such  agricul- 
tural feasts  which  the  Canaanites  held  about  the  same 


STATUTES  RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS.   1 73 

season  of  the  year.  The  other  two  feasts,  those  of  the 
Passover  and  of  the  Unleavened  Bread,  have  their  origin 
in  the  exodus;  and  in  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  both 
are  recognized  as  memorial  seasons,  but  not  as  two 
feasts.  The  argumentiun  e  silentio  may  be  urged  to 
support  the  feasts  as  well  known  better  than  to  establish 
the  fact  that  they  were  not  in  existence.  Indeed,  what 
is  part  and  parcel  of  a  national  life  is  not  recorded  con- 
stantly in  the  records  of  a  nation.  Only  departures 
from  the  once  recognized  fundamental  principles  be- 
come matters  of  historic  record.  And  the  outcry  of 
prophets  that  the  feasts  of  Jehovah  had  been  profaned 
is  surest  evidence  that  they  had  been  observed  for  cen- 
turies and  were  regarded  as  vital,  when  rightly  ob- 
served, to  the  prosperity  and  safety  of  Israel. 

The  Book  of  the  Covenant  ordains  observance  of 
three  sacred  seasons.  They  are  the  Sabbath,  the  Pass- 
over, and  the  Day  of  Atonement. 

THE  SABBATH  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
E  ^5       Six  days  shall  work  be  done ;  but  the  sev- 
enth is  the  sabbath  of  rest,  holy  unto  Jehovah. 
E  14  Ye  shall  keep  the  sabbath  therefore ;  for  it  Is 
E  17  holy  unto  you  ;  and  it  shall  be  a  sign  between 
E  1^  me  and  the  children  of  Israel  forever  through- 
out your  generations  that  you  may  know  that  I 
am  Jehovah  which  sanctlfieth  you. 

The  sabbath  is  spoken  of  as  a  day  holy  unto  Jehovah. 
Yet  Israel  is  to  regard  it  not  alone  in  this  light,  but 
also  as  a  sign  that  Jehovah  sanctified  them.  These 
words  assume  a  knowledge  of  the  creation  of  the  heav- 
ens and  the  earth  in  six  days.  The  tradition  was  a 
persistent  one  in  the  family  of  Shem.  No  feature  is 
more  remarkable  in  the  Mosaic   documents  than  the 


174  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

careful  conservation  of  the  mighty  faiths  and  the  sacri- 
ficial customs  of  the  patriarchal  ages.  The  larger 
communal  life  of  Israel  caused  them  to  be  modified; 
but  the  spirit  in  the  early  forms  was  retained.  A  fuller 
understanding  of  the  earlier  practices  and  a  broader 
application  of  them  merely  take  place ;  there  is  no  abo- 
lition of  them. 

THE  SABBATH  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

E  '2  Six  days  shall  work  be  done ;  but  the  sev- 
enth day  there  shall  be  to  you  a  holy  day,  a 
E  13  a  sabbath  of  rest  unto  Jehovah  ;  for  it  shall  be 
Ejja  sign  between  me  and  you  of  the  perpetual 
covenant.  Wherefore  the  children  of  Israel 
shall  keep  the  sabbath  to  observe  the  sabbath 
throughout  their  generations. 

The  brevity  of  the  expression  "  perpetual  cove- 
nant "  is  noticeable  in  E.  The  copy  of  J  enlarges  upon 
the  reason  of  the  sign ;  it  is  because  Jehovah  sanctifieth : 
the  copy  of  E  gathers  all  up  in  the  words  *'  a  sign  of 
the  perpetual  covenant."  The  institution  in  each  copy 
is  the  same ;  the  reasons  for  the  observance  of  the  sab- 
bath in  both  copies  are  in  essence  alike. 

Not  a  half  a  year  had  passed  since  Israel  in  haste  de- 
parted out  of  Egypt.  The  night  was  to  be  long  re- 
membered. On  that  night  there  was  the  cry  of  a  great 
mourning  in  all  the  land  of  Pharaoh.  Not  a  house  of 
the  Egyptians  but  held  great  lamentations  because  death 
had  come  to  the  firstborn  of  the  household.  And  royal 
messengers  hastened  to  the  children  of  Israel,  bidding 
them  to  depart  and  to  sacrifice  in  the  wilderness  to  Je- 
hovah. Previous  to  their  arrival,  by  commandment  Is- 
rael had  gathered  together  by  families  and  killed  a  lamb, 


STATUTES  RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS.   1 75 

and  stricken  its  blood  upon  the  doorposts.  While  thus 
assembled,  they  heard  the  cry  to  depart,  and  made 
haste  to  get  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt  quickly.  Such  is 
the  traditional  origin  of  the  Passover. 

THE  PASSOVER  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

E  25,  ^6       (Keep)  THE  FEAST  OF  PASSOVER  in  the  sea- 

^5,  ^6  son  of  the  month  of  Abib,  when  thou  earnest 

E  ^3  forth  out  of  Egypt ;  for  Jehovah  brought  you 

E  ^7  out  by  the  strength  of  the  hand.     Unleavened 

E  "  bread  shall  be  eaten  seven  days.    Sanctify  unto 

me  all  the  firstborn,  whatsoever  openeth  the 

womb  among  the  children  of  Israel,  man  and 

'3  beast ;  it  is  mine.     And  thou  shalt  remember 

the  day  thou  camest  forth  out  of  Egypt  all  the 

E  ^2  days  of  thy  life.     This  month  shall  be  the 

E  ^  first  month  of  the  year  to  you.     And  this  is 

L 13  THE     ORDINANCE     OF     THE     PASSOVER.         No 

E  2  stranger   shall    eat    thereof.     Thou    shalt    not 
N  12  carry  aught  abroad  out  of  the  house,  and  they 

shall  not   leave   any  of    it   until  morning    nor 

break  a  bone  of  it. 

This  service  is  simply  and  primarily  a  commemora- 
tive meal.  It  is  celebrated  in  the  households.  Fami- 
lies and  friends  gather  together  at  the  appointed  time 
and  partake  of  the  Passover.  In  the  seven  days  follow- 
ing its  observance  unleavened  bread  was  eaten  in  order 
that  Israel  might  remember  the  haste  of  the  march  out 
of  and  away  from  Egypt.  None  but  an  Israelite  could 
keep  the  Passover.  Now  it  is  held  by  the  higher  critics 
that  this  feast  is  of  late  origin;  or  that  it  is  not  known 
as  a  commemorative  feast  until  about  the  time  when 
men  began  to  write  up  the  noblest  spiritual  develop- 
ments of  their  time  as  really  the  product  of  the  Mosaic 


176  BOOK  OF  THE   COVENANT. 

era.     The  feast  is  not  mentioned,  they  say,  until  Jo- 
siah's  time.     The  ethical  turpitude  in  this  literary  fraud 
on  the  part  of  men  who  valued  the  loftiest  standard  of 
morals  and  truth  is  quite  as  unbelievable  as  the  infer- 
ence of  the  higher  critics.     But  what  are  the  facts? 
This  Passover  is  nothing  unless  a  lively  sense  of  the 
deliverance  from  Egypt  was  present  for  centuries  in  Is- 
rael.    The  Passover  is  simply  a  celebration  of  such  a 
salvation.     It  is  true,  as  higher  critics  show,  that  in  the 
Judges  and  the  Books  of  Samuel  and  the  Books  of  the 
Kings  repeated  reference  is  made  to  the  deliverance  of 
Israel  from  Egypt.     Unless  now  the  memory  of  it  was 
kept  alive   by  the  annual  celebration  of  this  feast  in 
each  household  of  Israel,  there  was  folly  in  urging  so 
frequently  this  historical  fact  upon  the  people.     The 
angel  of  the  Lord  rehearses  the  deliverance  from  Egypt 
at  Bochim ;   Gideon  repeats  it  to  an  angel  of  the  Lord 
at  Ophrah;  Jehovah  narrates  it  to  Samuel;  Samuel  him- 
self recalls  it  to  the  mind  of  Israel;  Nathan  mentions 
it  as  a  well-known  fact  to  David;  and  Solomon  himself 
acknowledges  it  to  the  elders  whom  he  called  together 
to  consult  in  reference  to  the  building  of  the  temple. 
Indeed,  if  this  all  was  an  invention,  such  notices  (con- 
necting the  event,  it  must  be   remembered,  with  the 
most  critical  exigencies  in  Israel's  history)  are  simply 
unintelligible.     But  if  the  Passover  was  sacredly  kept 
according  to  the  ordinance  in  this  Book  of  the  Cove- 
nant, then  the  impressive  power  of  these  references  be- 
comes at  once  understood.     Hosea,  Amos,  Micah  urge 
this  deliverance  from  Egypt  to  enforce  their  words  upon 
Israel.     Wellhausen's  asking  mankind  to  believe  his 
romancing,  by  which  the  great  facts  of  Israel's  history 
are  dragged  away  from  the  solid  base  of  truth  to  the 


STATUTES  RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS.     1 77 

shifting  sand  of  a  post-exilic  f Fabrication ,  is  as  bold  a 
venture  as  the  spider  took  who  fastened  a  filament  of  his 
web  to  the  Colossus  of  Rhodes  and  asked  the  birds  and 
the  fishes  to  behold  him  drag  the  mighty  thing  from  its 
solid  base  into  the  waters  of  the  sea. 

PASSOVER  ACCORDING  TO  E. 


31  -c,  34 
25 


E18         (Keep)  THE  FEAST  OF  THE  PASSOVER  in  the 

^l  time  of  the  month  of  Abib.     Seven  days  shalt 
E "  thou    eat   unleavened   bread    therewith.      Re- 
member this  day  in  which  ye  canie  forth  from 
N 1?  Egypt,  from  the  house  of  bondage.     Therefore 
all  the  firstborn  of  the  children  of  Israel,  both 
man  and  beast,  shall  be  mine ;  on  the  day  that 
I  smote  every  firstborn  in  the  land  of  Egypt  I 
E "  sanctified    them    unto  myself.      This    month 
shall  be  unto  you   the  beginning   of  months. 

E^ThIS    is    the  ORDINANCE  OF    THE  PASSOVER. 

E  46  A  stranger  shall  not  eat  thereof.  In  one  house 
^\  it  shall  be  eaten,  and  there  shall  no  flesh  which 

thou  sacrificest  at  evening  the  first  day  remain 
E  J^  all  night  until  morning.    And  ye  shall  not  break 

a  bone  of  it. 

Interest,  of  course,  some  day  will  center  in  the  dif- 
ferences discernible  in  the  two  copies.  The  emphasis 
upon  the  **  house  of  bondage"  in  E  has  been  noticed 
before.  The  same  reason  which  would  justify  the  ap- 
pearance of  this  phrase  in  E  will  find  application  when 
the  expression  **  I  smote  the  firstborn  in  the  land  of 
Egypt "  is  considered.  The  history  designated  E,  con- 
taining the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  which  we  have  called 
E,  was  written  in  Babylonian  territory.  The  motive  to 
encourage  the  captive  Israelites  led  in  all  probability  to 
12 


178  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

the  introduction  of  these  expressions,  which  indicate 
Jehovah's  deeds  for  Israel  when  in  bondage  to  Egypt. 

The  third  sacred  season  ordered  by  statute  in  the 
Book  of  the  Covenant  is  the  Day  of  Atonement.  Well- 
hausen  says :  *'  Notwithstanding  its  conspicuous  impor- 
tance, there  is  nothing  known  of  the  great  Day  of 
Atonement  in  the  Jehovistic  and  Deuteronomic  portions 
of  the  Pentateuch  or  in  the  historical  and  prophetical 
books.  It  first  begins  to  show  itself  in  embryo  during 
the  exile."  (Proleg.,p.  no.)  We  concede  immediately 
that  the  day  as  a  fast  day  is  not  mentioned  except  in 
Exodus-Numbers.  Yet  this  does  not  warrant  the  in- 
ference that  it  was  unknown.  If  now  it  were  men- 
tioned several  times  in  Judges-Chronicles,  such  men- 
tion could  not  be  regarded  as  proof;  for  the  convenient 
hypothesis  of  a  redactor  would  be  brought  forth  by  the 
higher  critic  to  account  for  their  presence.  The  only 
sure  confirmation  of  the  existence  of  this  fast  through- 
out the  history  of  the  Judges  and  the  Kings  is  to  show 
that  the  ideas  which  the  fast  commemorated  were  a  na- 
tional heritage  from  early  times.  Whatever  else  may 
be  associated  with  this  fast,  the  chiefest  thought  is  cer- 
tainly that  of  the  mercy  of  Jehovah.  If  the  law  of  Je- 
hovah was  the  norm  according  to  which  Israel's  prophet 
measured  the  fidelity  of  their  people  and  the  foundation 
upon  which  they  based  their  powerful  appeals,  it  was  the 
mercy  of  Jehovah  that  attuned  the  lyre  of  Israel's  poets 
and  tempered  the  fierce  threatenings  of  their  prophets. 
Without  doubt  the  chief  idea  connected  with  the  atone- 
ment day  is  the  mercy  of  Jehovah.  The  central  pur- 
pose of  this  statute  respecting  the  Day  of  Atonement  is 
to  keep  ever  before  Israel  that  Jehovah  is  sure  to  visit 
transgression,  but  yet  that  with  him  there  is  mercy. 


STATUTES  RESPECTING  THE  SACRED  SEASONS.      1 79 

THE  DAT  OF  A  TONEMENT  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
Lg      (Ye   shall  keep)  the  day  of   atonement, 
L  ^^^  \  and  ye  shall  afflict  your  souls  ;  and  (Jehovah 
thy  God)  will  keep  covenant  and  mercy  vs^ith 
them   that  love  him  and  keep  his  command- 
ments, unto  a  thousand  generations. 

Only  a  few  days  before  the  reading  to  Israel  of  this 
Book  of  the  Covenant,  they,  under  the  guidance  of 
Moses,  had  humbled  themselves  and  made  sacrifice  and 
secured  peace  with  Jehovah.  The  continuance  of  this 
peace  depended  upon  Israel's  fidelity  to  the  covenant. 
The  joy  of  forgiveness  pervaded  the  camp  while  Moses 
read  the  words  of  the  covenant. 

THE  FAST  OF  THE  ATONEMENT  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

^l  eJJ      (Keep)  the  fast  of  the  atonement  unto  Je- 

L  3  hovah  thy  God,  and  ye  shall  afflict  your  souls ; 

i5  and  Jehovah  thy  God  will  keep  unto  thee  the 

covenant  and  mercy  which  he  sware  unto  thy 

fathers. 

The  Hebrew  word  for  fast  is  a  rare  one,  and  is  the 
word  employed  by  the  writer  of  E  to  designate  this  re- 
markable day  in  the  history  of  Israel.  The  statute  in 
both  versions  is  not  in  any  way  at  variance. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING. 

Command,  obedience,  and  blessing  are  three  domi- 
nant words  in  the  religious  faith  of  Israel.  Yet  the 
commands  are  not  such  as  tend  to  enrich  an  ecclesias- 
tical establishment;  rather  they  are  directed  to  secure 
such  conduct  in  the  daily  walk  of  the  Israelites  as  will 
work  out  in  each  a  noble  character.  Obedience  to 
such  commands  is  beneficent.  The  blessings  are  all 
material  as  they  are  enumerated  in  the  Book  of  the 
Covenant,  such  as  closely  affect  the  life  we  live  upon 
the  earth.  They  therefore  appealed  to  the  Israelites 
and  were  powerful  motives  to  secure  welldoing. 

OBEDIENCE  ACCORDING  TO  J. 


27 
10 


Thou  shalt  therefore  obey  the  voice  of  Jeho- 


vah thy  God,  and  do  his  commandments  and 
25  his  statutes,  that  it  may  be  well  with  thee  and 
thy  children  after  thee,  and  thou  shalt  do  right 
in  the  sight  of  Jehovah. 

The  requirement  is  clear,  Israel  are  to  obey  the  voice 
of  their  God,  that  it  may  be  well  with  them.  This  obe- 
dience is  doing  right  in  his  sight. 

OBEDIENCE  ACCORDING  TO  E, 

"%  Keep  the  words  of  this  covenant  and  do 
them,  that  ye  may  prosper  in  all  that  ye  do, 

il  and  thou  shalt  do  right  and  good  in  the  sight 
of  Jehovah. 

In    the    version    of    E    we    observe   the    expression 
**  words  of  the  covenant"  for  *' commandments  and 
(i8o) 


OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING.  l8l 

Statutes."  Yet  in  each  version  there  is  but  the  same 
requirement,  namely,  obedience  to  the  same  command- 
ments and  statutes.  The  outcome  in  each  version  is 
the  same  for  obedience,  and  that  is  blessing. 

What  is  the  blessing  which  is  promised  Israel  if  they 
obey?  It  is  not  a  something  which  reaches  into  an- 
other life.  The  blessings  are  such  as  they  may  enjoy 
upon  the  earth. 

BLESSINGS  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

^\      And  when  thou  shalt  do  right  in  the  sight 
18  of  Jehovah    to   keep   all    his   commandments, 
J  thou  shalt  be  blessed  above  all  people.     There 
shall  not  be  a  male  or  a  female  barren  among 
E  25  you  or  among  your  cattle.     And  I  will  take 
Ji  away  sickness  from  the  midst  of  thee.     And  I 
will  give  the  rain  of  your  land  in  his  due  sea- 
ls son.     And  I  will  send  the  grass  in  thy  fields 
for  thy  cattle  that  thou  mayst  eat  and  be  full. 
L 10  And  ye  shall  eat  old  store  and  bring  forth  old 
L  ^6  because  of  the  new.     And  I  will  give  peace  in 
the  land  and  ye  shall  lie  down  and  none  shall 
make  you  afraid,  and  I  will  rid  the  evil  beast 
^  out  of  the  land.     And  I  will  establish  my  cov- 
enant with  you  ;  for  I  will  have  respect  unto 
L  if  you,  and  I  will  walk  among  you  and  be  your 
God,  and  ye  shall  be  my  people. 

Consider  the  import  of  these  words.  Shall  Moab  be 
barren,  while  Israel  is  fruitful?  Shall  the  pestilence 
devastate  Moab's  homes,  while  the  houses  of  Israel  are 
passed  by?  Shall  Moab  look  upon  his  fields  and  see 
the  ground  parched  and  unfruitful  for  lack  of  rain, 
while  the  fields  of  Israel  wave  in  luxurious  green? 
Shall  famine  reign  in  the  walls  of  Moab's  city,  while 


1 82  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

Israel's  cities  shall  abound  in  plenty?  Shall  the  enemy 
create  fear  in  the  heart  of  Moab,  but  fail  to  touch  with 
dread  the  Israelites  ?  Shall  all  these  things  occur  to  Is- 
rael, and  in  such  a  clear  light  that  Moab  and  other  na- 
tions must  say,  All  is  true,  and  because  Israel  obeys 
the  commandments  of  Jehovah?  Nothing  less  than 
this  is  affirmed.  Indeed,  unless  these  precepts  and 
commandments,  when  obeyed,  tended  to  make  Israel 
free  from  those  vices  that  blast  the  fruitfulness  of  the 
womb,  from  those  slovenly  habits  that  evoke  the  pesti- 
lence, from  that  sloth  which  makes  rain  upon  the  fields 
of  no  avail,  from  that  thriftlessness  which  engenders 
waste,  from  that  evil-mindedness  which  makes  enemies 
on  every  side,  then  these  promises  might  justly  be  re- 
garded as  the  idle  fancies  of  the  brain ;  for  otherwise  to 
fulfill  them  would  require  the  inversion  of  the  laws  of 
the  universe. 

BLESSINGS  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

}J     And  when  thou  shalt  hearken  unto  the  voice 

of  Jehovah  thy  God  to  keep  all  his  command- 

L  ^3  ments,  I  will  make  you  fruitful  and  multiply 

E  2?  you.    There  shall  nothing  cast  her  young  or  be 

iJ  barren  in  thy  land.      And  Jehovah  will  take 

from  thee  all  sickness,  and  will  put  none  of 

the  evil  diseases  of  Egypt,  which  thou  know- 

est,  upon  thee,  but  will  lay  them  upon  all  that 

L  ^4  hate  thee.     And  I  will  give  you  rain  in  due 

season,  and  the  land  shall  yield  her  increase 

L^^and   the   trees  shall  yield  their  fruit,  and  ye 

shall  eat  your  bread  and  be  full.    And  ye  shall 

L  ^l  dwell  safely  in  your  land.     And  the  sword  shall 

L  if  not  go  through  your  land.     And  I  will  set  my 

tabernacle  among  you,  and  my  soul  shall  not 


OBEDIENCE  AND  BLESSING.  183 

E  II  abhor  you.     And  ye  shall  serve  Jehovah  your 
God,  and  he  will  bless  thy  bread  and  thy  wa- 
K  26  ter,  and  I  wrill  fulfill  the  number  of  thy  days. 

These  blessings  are  the  same  in  number  and  kind  as 
we  found  in  the  J  version.  The  variations  are  only 
such  as  we  might  expect  in  a  version.  It  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  the  only  right  to  existence  for  a  version 
is  that  it  makes  an  ancient  document  intelligible  to  later 
generations. 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

DISOBEDIENCE  AND   PUNISHMENT. 

The  laws  of  the  universe  are  blind.  The  whirling 
circular  saw  will  not  pause  to  let  a  beautiful  jeweled 
hand  escape,  but  will  sever  it  from  the  arm  as  ruthless- 
ly as  it  would  divide  a  stick  of  wood.  The  lake  will 
not  bear  quietly  on  its  surface  the  boat  wherein  the 
Master  sleeps,  if  the  winds  howl  above  in  the  air;  but 
its  waters  will  wildly  rage,  obedient  to  law,  and  the 
boat  will  rock  and  toss  and  seem  about  to  be  ingulfed. 
Safety  is  to  know  the  danger  of  a  whirling  saw,  and  to 
keep  out  of  its  reach ;  to  be  acquainted  with  the  wrath 
of  the  waters  when  the  winds  rage  in  the  sky,  and  not 
to  be  found  out  upon  the  lake.  Safety  everywhere  is 
to  know  law,  whether  in  the  material  or  the  spiritual 
universe ;  for  disobedience  to  law  brings  disaster.  God 
could  not  have  been  the  author  of  the  Book  of  the  Cov- 
enant, had  its  provisions  been  unmindful  of  the  punish- 
ments which  disobedience  to  the  commandments  would 
entail.  The  sure  revelation  of  the  consequences  was 
what  Jehovah  imparted  to  Moses.  The  language  by 
which  they  were  imparted  to  Israel  was  the  work  of  the 
leader  himself.  And  a  review  of  the  closing  part  of 
these  three  codes,  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  the  Sina- 
itic  Tora,  and  the  Tora  of  Moses,  will  make  clear  that, 
while  the  punishments  change  not,  the  language  and  the 
force  and  the  beauty  with  which  they  are  announced  in 
each  code  are  subject  to  change. 

TRANSITIONAL  PARAGRAPH  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

L  14      But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  unto  me,  and  will 
L.  15  not  do  all  these  commandments,  and  if  ye  will 

(184) 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND  PUNISHMENT.  185 

Lijf  despise  my  statutes,  I  will  set  my  face  against 
L-Jfyou,  and  I  will  punish  you  seven  times  more 
for  your  sins. 

TRANSITIONAL  PARAGRAPH  ACCORDING  TO  B. 

L  J§  And  if  ye  will  not  yet  for  all  this  hearken  un- 
L  2!  to  me,  and  if  ye  will  not  be  instructed  through 

me  by  all  these  things,  but  will  walk  contrary 
L  J5  unto  me,  so  that  ye  will  not  do  all  my  com- 
L 16  mandments,  but  will  break  my  covenant,  I 
L,  jj  also  will  do  this  unto  you  :  I  will  bring  seven 

times  more  upon  you  according  to  your  sins. 

The  transitional  paragraph  in  both  versions  empha- 
sizes, by  means  of  a  conditional  negation,  the  impor- 
tance which  the  commandments  are  to  have  in  Israel. 
Obey  them  not,  and  there  will  come  to  the  people  most 
harassing  and  destructive  punishments.  Thus  Israel  is 
taught  most  clearly  how  fearful  a  thing  it  is  to  break 
this  covenant. 

FIRST  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
L  25,  60        I  WILL  BRING  ALL  THE  DISEASES  of  Egypt, 

§5  ©f  which  thou  wert  afraid  of,  together  with  the 
g  sore  botch  in  the  knees  and  legs,  and  the  scab, 
35  from  the  sole  of  thy  foot  unto  the  top  of  thy 
L  21  head,  whereof  thou  canst  not  be  healed,  and 
"^^  plagues  ;  and  blasting. 


22 


Disease,  the  plague,  and  famine  are  the  three  punish- 
ments first  named  as  following  upon  Israel  if  they  dis- 
obey the  commandments.  They  were  all  known  as 
afflictions  which  at  times  came  to  nations.  They  were 
dreaded.  Particularly  did  the  thought  of  the  diseases 
of  Egypt  make  Israel  shudder.  Now  it  is  plainly  af- 
firmed that  disobedience  to  the  precepts  of  the  covenant 


l86  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

would  lead  Jehovah  the  God  of  Israel  to  bring  these 
three  punishments — disease,  the  plague,  and  famine — 
upon  his  people.  A  physician  would  trace  disease  to 
local  causes  or  to  individual  conduct;  the  plague  he 
would  hand  over  to  the  scientist  to  explain ;  the  famine 
he  would  ascribe  to  drought  or  the  worm.  But  Jeho- 
vah says,  **  I  will  bring  them  upon  Israel  if  they  disobey 
my  covenant."  There  are  more  things  in  heaven  and 
earth  than  man's  philosophy  can  attain  unto ;  this  is  one 
of  them. 

FIRST  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

L  25,60,  27        I   WILL  BRING  ALL  THE  DISEASES  of  Egypt, 

together  with  the  botch,  and  the  emerods,  and 


the  itch  whereof  thou  canst  not  be  healed,  and 
they  shall  cleave  unto  thee,  and  also  plagues 
of  every  kind ;  and  mildew. 


Interesting  questions  arise  as  to  whether  the  itch  and 
the  scab  are  the  same  disease,  or  what  reason  led  to 
the  description  of  diseases,  with  such  variation  as  is 
found  in  J.  These  are  not  questions  to  be  discussed 
at  present.  The  versions  are  first  to  be  restored ;  after- 
wards their  differences  in  phraseology  especially  are  to 
be  studied,  traceable  to  the  regions  in  which  the  versions 
appeared. 

SECOND  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS  ACCORDING  TO  J. 

L  af      And   I   will  draw    a   sword    out   after  you, 

L  J5  L  i5  and  break  the  pride  of  your  power  ;  and  ye  shall 

nbe  slain  before  your  enemies.     But  the  stran- 

44  ger  that  is  among  you  shall  lend  to  thee,  and 

thou  shalt  not  lend  to  him.     He  shall  be  the 

L  fy  head,  and  thou  shalt  be  the  tail.     And  I  will 

L  ^  not  smell  the  savor  of  your  sweet  odors.     But 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND  PUNISHMENT.  187 

I  will  destroy  your  high  places  and  cut  down 
y  your  images.  And  thy  carcasses  shall  be  meat 
unto  all  the  fowls  of  the  air,  and  unto  the 
beasts  of  the  earth,  and  no  man  shall  fray  them 
away. 

These  three  punishments  are  defeat  before  an  enemy, 
the  rule  of  a  stranger,  and  that  violence  which  not  only 
slaughters  human  life  but  also  demolishes  the  sanctu- 
aries of  a  land.  The  first  triad  arrayed  nature  and 
her  forces  against  Israel,  but  not  so  as  to  destroy  root 
and  branch.  The  second  triad  lifts  against  Israel  the 
hand  of  man,  threatening  extermination.  Israel,  in 
generations  afterwards,  became  unfaithful  to  Jehovah. 
Then  the  noble  spirits  of  the  nation  bewailed  in  poetic 
measure  these  misfortunes  that  came  upon  the  nation. 
There  are  psalms  wherein  a  people  accustomed  to  vic- 
tory are  described  as  suffering  the  bitterness  of  nation- 
al defeat;  and  others  wherein  a  people  accustomed  to 
noble  freedom  in  their  own  beautiful  city  are  portrayed 
as  bemoaning  abject  servitude  within  its  walls  such  that 
an  Israelite  must  cringe  in  his  own  city  to  a  despotic 
foreigner;  others  still,  which  are  filled  with  the  lan- 
guage of  despair,  recording  that  crushed  spirit  in  Israel 
when  a  few  of  them  in  their  own  land  tremblingly 
haunted  the  places  of  greatest  sanctity  and  saw  them  in 
saddest  ruins,  inhabited  by  jackals  and  owls.  These 
all  felt  the  awful  verity  in  the  threatenings  of  the  cov- 
enant. 

SECOND  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS  ACCORDING  TOE, 

L  jf  L  ^      And  I  also  will  send  a  sword  upon  you  that 

L  "  shall  avenge  the  quarrel  of  my  covenant,  and 

^  ye  shall  flee  when  none  pursueth  you.      And 

the  stranger  that  is  within  thee  shall  get  above 


1 88  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

very  high,  and  thou  shalt  come  down  very  low. 

L  g  L  31  And  my  soul  shall  abhor  you.      And  I   will 

L II  bring  your  sanctuaries  into  desolation,  and  cast 

out  your  carcasses  upon  the  carcasses  of  your 

idols. 

A  literal  version  seems  to  be  given  in  E  of  the  sixth 
punishment.  And  indeed  the  rendering  of  the  J  copy 
seems  to  me  the  language  that  is  but  a  verbal  portrayal 
of  what  was  present  to  the  writer's  own  eyes.  When 
Jeremiah  wrote,  he  could  have  gone  out  upon  the  high 
places  of  Palestine  and  beheld  slain  Israelites  whose 
*'  carcasses  were  meat  unto  all  the  fowls  of  the  air  and 
unto  the  beasts  of  the  earth,"  and  no  man  was  there 
*'  to  fray  them  away." 

The  seventh  punishment  is  captivity  in  a  foreign 
land.  Israel  knew  somewhat  the  meaning  of  a  foreign 
master.  They  had  groaned  beneath  the  oppression  of 
Egypt.  But,  severe  as  such  bondage  was,  this  threat- 
ened seventh  punishment  added  the  further  bitterness 
that  Israel  should  remember  the  land  of  their  posses- 
sion and  the  joy  of  the  favor  of  Jehovah  their  God 
which  was  theirs  while  obedient  to  the  precepts  of  the 
covenant. 

THE  SEVENTH  PUNISHMENT  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
63     And  ye  shall  be  plucked  off  the  land  whither 

L  3^  thou  goest  to  possess.      And  they  that  be  left 
of  you  shall  pine  away  in  their  iniquities  in  the 

L  33  land  of  your  enemies.     And  your  land  shall  be 

L  32  desolate  and  your  cities  waste.     And  your  en- 
emies which  dwell  therein  shall  be  astonished. 

THE  SEVENTH  PUNISHMENT  ACCORDING  TO  E. 

^      And  thou  shalt  be  removed  into  all  the  king- 
ly gl  doms  of  the  earth,  and  those  that  be  left  of 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND   PUNISHMENT.  189 

Lglyou  shall  pine  away  in  the  iniquities  of  their 
L  li  fathers  with    them.      And    I   will  make  your 
L  32  cities  waste  and  bring  your  land  into  desola- 
tion. 

We  seek  in  vain  for  any  intimation  of  the  enemy 
which  shall  waste  Israel's  land  in  after  times,  should 
the  people  forsake  Jehovah  their  God.  Kingdoms  are 
mentioned,  but  we  know  not  what  kingdoms  they  are; 
the  land  of  the  enemy  is  also  spoken  of,  but  the  name 
of  the  land  is  not  given.  The  sketching  is  without  lo- 
cal or  personal  coloring.  The  misfortunes  threatened 
Israel  in  these  seven  punishments  are  such  as  had  hap- 
pened to  nations.  The  new  element  alone  is  that  obe- 
dience to  the  covenant  will  preserve  Israel  against  them. 
A  supreme  faith  in  the  might  of  Jehovah  the  God  of  Is- 
rael is  the  foundation  of  this  wonderful  creed  of  Moses. 

The  close  of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  is  a  promise 
of  mercy  upon  confession.  Nations  that  are  deported 
lose  their  national  characteristics.  They  become  like 
their  captors  in  faith  and  manners.  The  land  whence 
they  came  becomes,  after  a  few  generations,  a  kind  of 
dream.  Even  the  national  traditions  are  forgotten. 
Or,  if  remembered,  they  awaken,  not  longings  to  re- 
turn, but  bitter  curses;  for  to  their  foreign  blood  these 
bondmen  owe  whatever  disability  they  suffer  in  the 
body  politic  where  they  dwell.  Not  thus  was  it  with  Is- 
rael when  in  centuries  later  they  were  plucked  off 
from  their  own  land.  Their  God  still  was  Jehovah, 
their  faith  the  creed  of  the  covenant,  their  hope  the 
abounding  mercy  of  Jehovah. 

REPENTANCE  AND  MERCT  ACCORDING  TO  J. 
L "%      If  they  shall  confess  their  iniquity  and 
L  41  the    iniquities    of    their    fathers,    and    that    I 


190  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

brought  them  into  the  land  of  their  enemies, 
L  2  L  43  then  I  will  not  cast  them  away,  but  will  re- 
member my  covenant  with  Jacob,  and  my  cov- 
enant with  Isaac,  and  also  my  covenant  with 
L  *|  Abraham.     Ye  shall  therefore  keep  (  my  com- 
mandments), which  if  a  man  do  he  shall  live  in 
\l  them.      And  thou  shalt  be  perfect  with  Jeho- 
vah thy  God. 

Stated  briefly  is  the  law  of  recovery  from  moral  tur- 
pitude and  irreligious  disposition.  It  is  confession  of 
Israel's  iniquities  and  those  of  their  fathers  and  the 
acknowledgment  that  Jehovah  brought  upon  them  the 
punishments  for  wrongdoing.  Here  is  God's  oppor- 
tunity. He  comes  with  all  the  plenitude  of  his  power 
to  recover;  he  remembers  his  covenant  and  shows  mer- 
cy. The  closing  words  of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant 
are  an  injunction  to  keep  the  commandments,  for  in  do- 
ing them  is  life. 

/REPENTANCE  AND  MERCY  ACCORDING  TO  B, 

lJJl^      And  yet  for  all  this  if  they  confess  in 

their   trespass   wherein   they   have   trespassed 

against  me,  and   also   that  they  have  walked 

L  41  contrary  unto  me,  and  I  have  walked  contrary 

L  4^  unto  them,  when  they  be  in  the  land  of  their 

enemies,  I  will  not  abhor  them  to  destroy  them 

utterly  and  to  break  my  covenant  with  them. 

L^^But  I  will  remember  them  and  I  will  remem- 

L^ber  the  land;    for  I  am  Jehovah   their  God. 

^  And  Jehovah   commands   us   to   do  all  these 

(commandments)  for  our  good  always  that  he 

might  preserve  us  alive. 

Perhaps  I  may  be  pardoned  by  my  reader  if  I  make 
a  personal  statement;  for  with  the  restoration  of  this  last 


DISOBEDIENCE  AND  PUNISHMENT.  I9I 

section  I  have  concluded  the  reconstruction  of  the  three 
books  of  Moses,  known  as  the  Book  of  the  Covenant, 
the  Law  of  Jehovah  (Sinaitic  Tora),  and  Deuteronomy 
(the  Tora  of  Moses),  giving  each  book  in  two  versions. 
The  results  are  only  part  of  those  reached  through 
twenty-five  years  of  laborious  study  and  conflicting 
doubts.  I  could  not  deny  the  evidence  of  confusion 
everywhere  present  in  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  which 
were  startlingly  made  apparent  in  the  Pentateuch  by 
the  higher  critics.  I  could  not  accept  the  conclusions 
of  the  Grafian  school;  for  they  subverted  the  great  tra- 
ditions of  a  nation,  which,  as  I  saw,  permeated  the 
whole  of  its  literature ;  and  more,  it  was  contrary  to  the 
teachings  of  history  that  a  single  nation  in  the  despair 
of  its  overthrow  should  develop  the  noblest  literature 
the  world  possesses.  I  was  therefore  forced  to  seek 
some  other  hypothesis  to  explain  the  strange  phenom- 
ena in  the  Old  Testament  Scriptures.  The  struggle 
was  to  retain  faith.  One  scholar  alone  was  to  me  an 
abiding  help,  and  he  is  Archdeacon  Farrar.  In  my 
days  in  the  theological  school  his  *' Life  of  Christ'' 
and  **  Epistles  of  St.  Paul"  were  mainstays  of  faith. 
His  words  always  showed  fullest  acquaintance  with  all 
that  scholars  of  every  school  had  made  known,  and 
while  indisputable  facts  he  admitted,  he  doubted  radi- 
cal conclusions  and  retained  the  worthiest  belief  in 
Christ  and  the  words  of  his  apostles.  I  found  also  in 
his  *'  First  Book  of  the  Kings  "  the  same  just  and  broad- 
minded  attitude  toward  the  results  of  higher  criticism, 
and  also  an  unwavering  faith  in  the  revelation  of  God 
to  the  Israelites.  So  I  took  courage,  and  labored  amid 
doubts  innumerable. 

Years  ago,  while  standing  among  the  ruins  of  Caper- 


192  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

naum  on  the  shore  of  Galilee,  I  saw  beautiful  frag- 
ments of  columns  and  frieze  lying  among  the  weedy 
growth  of  the  desolate  spot.  The  beauty  that  had  been 
chiseled  upon  the  stones  made  evident  that  they  once 
belonged  to  some  magnificent  edifice,  whose  marvels  the 
lovely  sea  mirrored  in  its  depths  day  by  day.  Like- 
wise, when  I  saw  the  beauty  of  the  commandments  as 
they  were  found  here  and  there  in  the  Pentateuch  with- 
out order  or  any  structure,  I  was  compelled  to  believe 
that  some  time  they  were  recorded  in  a  document  as 
beautiful  as  a  whole  as  the  individual  parts  were  beau- 
tiful in  themselves.  In  this  faith  I  labored  year  after 
year;  and  one  of  the  results  was  the  restoration  in  two 
versions  of  the  three  law  codes  of  Moses. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

VERSIONS   COMPARED. 

THE  PURPOSE  OF  THE  SIGNS  AND  WONDERS. 
J.  E. 

And   Jehovah    said:        And  Jehovah  said  :  Thus 

These   are  the  words  which   shalt  thou  say  unto  the  house 

thou  shalt  speak  to  the  chil-   of  Jacob,  and  tell  the  children 

dren  of  Israel :  I  am  Jehovah  of  Israel :  I  am  Jehovah  thy 

your   God  who  brought  you   God  who  brought  thee  out  of 

outof  the  land  of  Egypt.    And   the  land  of  Egypt,  out  of  the 

ye  saw  all  that  Jehovah  did   house  of    bondage.     Ye  saw 

before  your  eyes  in  the  land   what   I  did  unto  the   Egyp- 

of  Egypt,  unto  Pharaoh  and   tians,    the    great    temptations 

unto  his  servants  and  unto  his   which  thine  eyes  saw,  and  the 

land,    the    great    temptations   signs    and   wonders    and    the 

which    thine    eyes    saw,    and   outstretched  arm,  whereby  Je- 

those  great  miracles,  and  the   hovah  brought  thee  out,  that 

mighty  hand  to  give  unto  you   he  might  bring  us  in  to  give 

the  land  of  Canaan.  us  the   land  which  he  sware 

unto  our  fathers. 

FAITH  IN  THE  PROMISE. 
J.  E. 

For   Jehovah    shall    bring        For    the    land    whither  ye 

thee  into  a  goodly  land,  a  land  shall  go  to  possess  is  not  like 
of  brooks  and  waters,  of  foun-  the  land  of  Egypt,  whence  ye 
tains  and  depths  that  spring  came  out,  where  thou  sowest 
out  of  valleys  and  hills,  a  land  thy  seed  and  waterest  it  with 
of  wheat  and  barley  and  vines  thy  foot  as  gardens  of  herbs  ; 
and  fig  trees  and  pomegran-  but  the  land  is  a  land  of  hills 
ates,  a  land  of  olive  oil  and  and  valleys,  and  it  drinketh 
honey,  a  land  which  Jehovah   the  water  of  the  rain  of  heav- 

13  (193) 


194  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

J.  E. 

thy  God  careth  for.  And  thou  en,  a  land  whose  stones  are 
shalt  eat  and  be  full,  and  iron  and  out  of  whose  hills 
bless  Jehovah  thy  God  for  the  thou  may  est  dig  brass,  a  land 
good  land  which  he  shall  give  where  thou  shalt  eat  bread 
thee*  without  scarceness,  and  thou 

shalt  not  lack  anything  in  it. 
The  eyes  of  Jehovah  thy  God 
are  always  upon  it,  from  the 
beginning  of  the  year  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  year. 

INTRODUCTORT  SENTENCE. 
J.  E. 

But  ye  shall  observe  to  do  And  ye  shall  diligently  keep 
all  the  testimonies  and  stat-  the  commandments  of  Jeho- 
utes  which  Jehovah  our  God  vah  your  God,  his  testimonies 
commands  you.  and  his  statutes. 

FIRST  TABLE. 
J.  E. 

I.  I. 

Thou  shalt  fear  thy  God.  Thou  shalt  fear  thy  God. 

II.  II. 

Ye  shall  not  oppress  one  Ye  shall  not  oppress  one 
another.  another. 

III.  III. 

Thou  shalt  make  thee  no  Make  not  for  yourselves 
molten  gods.  molten  gods. 

IV.  IV. 

Thou  shalt  not  profane  the  Thou  shalt  not  profane  the 
name  of  thy  God.  name  of  thy  God. 

V.  V. 

Verily  ye  shall  keep  my  Ye  shall  keep  my  sabbaths, 
sabbaths. 


VERSIONS  COMPARED. 


195 


SECOND  TABLE. 
J-  E. 

VI.  VI. 

Every  man  that  curseth  his  He  that  curseth  his  father 
father  or  his  mother  shall  or  his  mother  shall  surely  be 
surely  be  put  to  death.  put  to  death. 

VII.  VII. 

He  who  committeth  adul-  He  who  committeth  adul- 
tery with  his  neighbor's  wife,  tery  with  a  man's  wife,  the 
that  man  and  that  woman  shall  man  that  lay  with  the  woman 
surely  be  put  to  death.  and  the  woman  shall  surely  be 

put  to  death. 

VIII.  VIII. 

He  that  killeth  a  man  shall  He  that  killeth  a  man  shall 
surely  be  put  to  death.  surely  be  put  to  death. 

IX.  IX. 

Thou  shalt  not  covet.  Thou  shalt  not  covet. 

X.  X. 

Ye  shall  not  lie.  Thou    shalt  not  lie  one  to 

another. 

HORTATORT  WORDS, 

J.  E. 

And  thou  shalt  observe  and  And  ye  shall  observe  to  do 
do  these  [commandments]  all  the  commandments  which 
that  thou  mayest  live  and  in-  I  command  thee  this  day  ;  and 
herit  the  land  which  Jehovah  when  thou  shalt  beget  chil- 
thy  God  shall  give  thee ;  and  dren  and  children's  children, 
thou  shalt  teach  them  to  thy  ye  shall  walk  in  all  the  way 
son  and  thy  son's  son,  that  ye  which  Jehovah  your  God  corn- 
may  learn  and  keep  them  and  mandeth  you,  and  ye  shall 
do  them  in  the  land  whither  prolong  your  days  in  the  land 
ye  go  to  possess.  which  Jehovah  thy  God  shall 

give  thee  to  inherit. 


196  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

LAW  OF  THE  ALTAR, 
J.  E. 

In  the  place  where  Jehovah       And  in  the  place  where  Je- 

thy  God  shall  choose  to  place   hovah   thy  God  shall  choose 

his    name,   AN    altar    of   to  place  his  name,  an  altar 

EARTH  THOU  SHALT  MAKE  OF  EARTH  THOU  SHALT  MAKE 

UNTO  ME.  But  thou  mayest  unto  me.  But  if  thou  wilt 
build  the  altar  of  Jehovah  thy  make  unto  me  an  altar  of 
God  of  whole  stones ;  thou  stones,  thou  shalt  not  build  it 
shalt  not  lift  any  iron  tool  of  hewn  stones ;  for  if  thou 
upon  them.  And  thou  shalt  lift  up  thy  tool  upon  it,  thou 
sacrifice  thereon  thy  burnt  of-  hast  polluted  it.  And  thou 
fering  and  thy  peace  offering,  shalt  offer  thereon  unto  Jeho- 
thy  sheep  and  thy  oxen,  and  vah  thy  God  of  thy  herd  and 
thou  shalt  eat  there  and  re-  of  thy  flock  burnt  offerings, 
joice  before  Jehovah  thy  God  and  thou  shalt  offer  peace  of- 
And  in  all  places  where  ferings,  and  thou  shalt  eat  be- 
I  record  my  name,  I  will  fore  Jehovah  thy  God,  thou 
come  unto  thee  and  bless  thee,  and  thy  household.     And  in 

EVERY  PLACE  WHERE  I  RE- 
CORD MY  NAME,  I  will  meet 
there  with  the  children  of  Is- 
rael. 

THE  LA  W  OF  THE  OFFERING. 
J.  E. 

All  the  fat  is  J  e  h  o-  All  the  fat  is  J  e  h  o- 
vah's.  And  thou  shalt  not  vah's.  And  thou  shalt  not 
offer  (the  flesh)  of  my  sacri-  offer  (the  flesh)  of  my  sac- 
fice,  nor  shall  any  of  the  sac-  rifice.  Nor  shall  any  of  my 
rifice  remain  until  morning,  sacrifice  remain  until  morn- 
And  the  blood  shall  be  ing.  And  the  blood  of  thy 
POURED  out  upon  the  altar  sacrifices  shall  be  poured 
of  Jehovah  thy  God,  but  the  upon  the  altar  of  Jehovah  thy 
flesh  thou  mayest  eat.  God,  but  the  flesh  thou  may- 

est eat  it. 


VERSIONS  COMPARED.  I97 

LA  W  OF  THE  VICTIM. 
J.  E. 

Thou  shalt  not  sacrifice  And  if  there  be  blemish 
unto  Jehovah  thy  God  bullock  therein,  lame  or  blind,  or  any 
or  sheep  wherein  is  any  blem-  ill-blemish,  thou  shalt  not  sac- 
ish  or  any  ill-favoredness  ;  for  rifice  it  unto  Jehovah  thy  God. 
it  is  an  abomination  unto  Je- 
hovah thy  God. 

THE  LAW  OF  GAME-EATING 
J.  E. 

As  the  roebuck  and  as  the       Even  as   the   roebuck  and 

hart,  ye  may  eat    these ;  but  the   hart   are   eaten,  so    thou 

ye  shall  eat  the  blood  of  no  mayest  eat  them,  but  no  soul 

manner  of  flesh.  of  you  shall  eat  blood. 

LA  W  OF  DEFILEMENT 
J.  E. 

And    ye    shall    not    make       Ye  shall   put  a   difference 
yourselves    abominable    with  between    clean    and    unclean 
beast  or  fowl  or  any  manner  beasts,  between  unclean  fowl 
of  living  thing  that  creepeth   and  clean,  and  ye    shall    not 
on  the  ground.    Neither  shall   make  yourselves  abominable 
ye  make    yourselves   unclean   with  any  creeping  thing  that 
with  them  that  ye  should  be   creepeth,  neither  shall  ye  de- 
defiled    thereby.      And    after  file  yourselves  with  any  man- 
the  doings  of  the  land  of  Ca-   ner   of    creeping  thing    that 
naan  whither  I  bring  you,  ye   creepeth     upon     the      earth 
shall    not    do ;    for    all    these   And  after  the  doings  of   the 
abominations    have   the    men   land    of    Egypt   wherein    ye 
of  the  land  which  were  before   dwelt,  shall  ye  not  do.     De- 
you  done,  and  the  land  is  de-   file  yourselves  not  in  any  of 
filed.     And     the    land    itself   these  things ;  for  in  all  these 
vomiteth  out  her  inhabitants,   things  the  nations  are  defiled 
But   ye  shall  not  walk    after   which  I  will  cast  out  before 
the    manner    of    the    nations   you.    And  the  land  is  defiled, 
which  I  shall  cast  out  before   Therefore  I  do  visit   the  in- 


1^8  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

J.  E. 

you,  that  the  land  spew  you  quity  thereof  upon  it.  Ye 
not  out  also  when  you  defile  shall  therefore  keep  all  my 
it.  Ye  shall  therefore  keep  statutes  and  do  them,  that  the 
my  statutes,  and  shall  not  land  whither  I  bring  you  to 
commit  any  of  these  abomi-  dwell  therein  spew  you  not 
nations.  And  ye  shall  be  out  as  it  spewed  out  the  na- 
holy  unto  me ;  for  I  Jehovah  tions  before  you ;  for  they 
am  holy,  and  have  severed  committed  all  these  things, 
you  from  other  people,  that  and  therefore  I  abhorred 
ye  should  be  mine,  and  a  land  them.  I  am  Jehovah  your 
that  floweth  with  milk  and  God  which  have  separated 
honey  I  will  give  you  to  pos-  you  from  all  other  people : 
sess  it.  therefore    ye    shall    sanctify 

yourselves,  for  I  am  holy. 
And  I  say  unto  you,  you 
shall  inherit  their  land. 

THE  SABBATH. 
J.  E, 

Six    days    shall    work    be  Six    days    shall    work    be 

done ;  but  the  seventh  is  the  done ;    but   the   seventh   day 

sabbath  of  rest,  holy  unto  Je-  there  shall  be  to  you  a  holy 

hovah.    Ye    shall    keep    the  day,  a  sabbath  of  rest  unto  Je- 

sabbath    therefore ;    for   it   is  hovah ;  for  it  shall  be  a  sign 

holy  unto  you ;  and  it  shall  be  between   me  and  you  of  the 

a  sign  between  me  and   the  perpetual  covenant.     Where- 

children     of     Israel     forever  fore    the    children    of    Israel 

throughout  your  generations  shall  keep  the  sabbath  to  ob- 

that   you    may  know    that   I  serve  the  sabbath  throughout 

am  Jehovah  which  sanctifieth  their  generations. 

you. 

THE  PASSO  VER. 
J.  E. 

(Keep)  THE  FEAST  OF  PASS-       (Keep)  the  feast  of  the 

OVER  in   the  sea   son  of  the  passover  in  the  time  of  the 


VERSIONS  COMPARED.  I99 

J.  E. 

month  of    Abib,   when  thou  month  of  Abib.     Seven  days 

camest  forth  out  of    Egypt;  shalt     thou     eat    unleavened 

for  Jehovah  brought  you  out  bread  therewith.     Remember 

by  the  strength  of  the  hand,  this    day   in  which    ye   came 

Unleavened    bread    shall    be  forth  from   Egypt,  from  the 

eaten    seven    days.    Sanctify  house  of  bondage.    Therefore 

unto    me    all    the    firstborn,  all  the  firstborn  of  the    chil- 

whatsoever  openeth  the  womb  dren  of  Israel,  both  man  and 

among  the  children  of  Israel,  beast,  shall  be  mine ;  on  the 

man    and   beast;    it   is  mine,  day  that  I  smote  every  first- 

And  thou  shalt  remember  the  born  in  the  land  of  Egypt  I 

day  thou  camest  forth  out  of  sanctified   them  unto  myself. 

Egypt  all  the  days  of  thy  life.  This    month    shall   be    unto 

This  month  shall  be  the  first  you  the  beginning  of  months, 

month    of  the   year   to    you.  This  is  the  ordinance  of 

And    this    is    the    ordi-  the  passover.     A  stranger 

nance   of    the    PASSOVER,  shall  not  eat  thereof.     In  one 

No  stranger  shall  eat  thereof,  house    it  shall    be  eaten,  and 

Thou  shalt   not   carry  aught  there  shall  no  flesh  which  thou 

abroad  out  of  the  house,  and  sacrificest  at  evening  the  first 

they  shall  not  leave  any  of  it  day    remain    all    night    until 

until    morning    nor    break    a  morning-    And   ye   shall   not 

bone  of  it.  break  a  bone  of  it. 

THE  DAY  OF  A  TONEMENT. 

J.  E. 

(Ye  SHALL  keep)  the  day  (Keep)  the  fast  of  the 
of  atonement,  and  ye  shall  atonement  unto  Jehovah  thy 
afflict  your  souls ;  and  (Jeho-  God,  and  ye  shall  afflict  your 
vah  thy  God)  will  keep  cove-  souls  *  and  Jehovah  thy  God 
nant  and  mercy  with  them  will  keep  unto  thee  the  cove- 
that  love  him  and  keep  his  nant  and  mercy  which  he 
commandments,  unto  a  thou-  sware  unto  thy  fathers, 
sand  generations. 


200  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

OBEDIENCE. 

J.  E. 

Thou  shalt  therefore  obey  Keep    the    words    of    this 

the  voice  of  Jehovah  thy  God,  covenant  and   do    them,  that 

and    do    his    commandments  ye  may  prosper  in  all  that  ye 

and  his  statutes,  that  it  may  do,  and  thou    shalt  do    right 

be    v^ell    with    thee    and  thy  and  good  in  the  sight  of  Je- 

children  after  thee,  and  thou  hovah. 
shalt  do  right  in  the  sight  of 
Jehovah. 

BLESSINGS. 

J.  E, 

And  when  thou  shalt  do  And  when  thou  shalt  heark- 
right  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah  en  unto  the  voice  of  Jehovah 
to  keep  all  his  command-  thy  God  to  keep  all  his  com- 
ments, thou  shalt  be  blessed  mandments,  I  will  make  you 
above  all  people.  There  shall  fruitful  and  multiply  you. 
not  be  a  male  or  a  female  There  shall  nothing  cast  her 
barren  among  you  or  among  young  or  be  barren  in  thy 
your  cattle.  And  I  will  take  land.  And  Jehovah  will  take 
away  sickness  from  the  midst  from  thee  all  sickness,  and 
of  thee.  And  I  will  give  the  will  put  none  of  the  evil  dis- 
rain  of  your  land  in  his  due  eases  of  Egypt,  which  thou 
season.  And  I  will  send  the  knowest,  upon  thee,  but  will 
grass  in  thy  fields  for  thy  lay  them  upon  all  that  hate 
cattle  that  thou  mayst  eat  and  thee.  And  I  will  give  you 
be  full.  And  ye  shall  eat  old  rain  in  due  season,  and  the 
store  and  bring  forth  old  be-  land  shall  yield  her  increase 
cause  of  the  new.  And  I  will  and  the  trees  shall  yield  their 
give  peace  in  the  land,  and  ye  fruit,  and  ye  shall  eat  your 
shall  lie  down  and  none  shall  bread  and  be  full.  And  ye 
make  you  afraid,  and  I  will  shall  dwell  safely  in  your  land, 
rid  the  evil  beast  out  of  the  And  the  sword  shall  not  go 
land.  And  I  will  establish  through  your  land.  And  I 
my  covenant  with  you  ;  for  I  will  set  my  tabernacle  among 


VERSIONS  COMPARED.  20I 

J.  E. 

will  have  respect  unto  you,  you,  and  my  soul  shall  not  ab- 
and  I  will  walk  among  you  hor  you.  And  ye  shall  serve 
and  be  your  God,  and  ye  shall  Jehovah  your  God,  and  he 
be  my  people.  will  bless  thy  bread  and  thy 

water,  and  I  will  fulfill  the 
number  of  thy  days. 

TRANSITIONAL  PARAGRAPH. 

J.  E. 

But  if  ye  will  not  hearken  And  if  ye  w^ill  not  yet  for 
unto  me,  and  will  not  do  all  all  this  hearken  unto  me,  and 
these  commandments,  and  if  if  ye  will  not  be  instructed 
ye  will  despise  my  statutes,  I  through  me  by  all  these 
will  set  my  face  against  you,  things,  but  will  walk  contrary 
and  I  will  punish  you  seven  unto  me,  so  that  ye  will  not 
times  more  for  your  sins.  do    all    my    commandments, 

but  will  break  my  covenant, 
I  also  will  do  this  unto  you : 
I  will  bring  seven  times  more 
upon  you  according  to  your 
sins. 


FIRST  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS. 

J.  E. 

I     WILL     BRING     ALL     THE  I  WILL  BRING  ALL  THE  DIS- 

DiSEASES  of  Egypt,  of  which  eases    of     Egypt,    together 

thou  wert  afraid  of,  together  with  the  botch,  and  the  em- 

with    the    sore  botch    in    the  erods,  and   the    itch  whereof 

knees  and  legs,  and  the  scab,  thou  canst  not  be  healed,  and 

from  the  sole  of  thy  foot  unto  they  shall   cleave    unto   thee, 

the  top  of  thy  head,  whereof  and    also    plagues    of    every 

thou  canst  not  be  healed,  and  kind ;  and  mildew, 
plagues ;  and  blasting. 


202  BOOK  OF  THE   COVENANT. 

SECOND  TRIAD  OF  PUNISHMENTS. 

J.  E. 

And  I  will  draw  a  sword  And    I    also    will    send    a 

out  after  you,  and  break  the  sword    upon   you    that    shall 

pride  of  your  power ;  and  ye  avenge    the    quarrel    of    my 

shall  be  slain  before  your  en-  covenant,    and    ye    shall    flee 

emies.     But  the  stranger  that  when    none     pursueth     you. 

is   among  you   shall    lend    to  And     the     stranger    that    is 

thee,  and  thou  shalt  not  lend  within   thee    shall    get  above 

to  him.     He  shall  be  the  head,  very    high,    and     thou    shalt 

and    thou    shalt    be    the    tail,  come  down  very   low.     And 

And  I  will  not  smell  the  sa-  my    soul    shall     abhor    you. 

vor  of  your  sweet  odors.     But  And  I  will  bring  your  sanc- 

I  will  destroy  your  high  places  tuaries    into    desolation,    and 

and  cut    dow^n    your   images,  cast  out  your  carcasses  upon 

And    thy   carcasses    shall   be  the  carcasses  of  your  idols, 
meat  unto  all  the  fowls  of  the 
air,  and  unto  the  beasts  of  the 
earth,  and  no  man  shall  fray 
them  away. 

THE  SE  VENTH  P  UNISHMENT. 

J.  E. 

And  ye  shall  be  plucked  off  And  thou  shalt  be  removed 
the  land  whither  thou  goest  to  into  all  the  kingdoms  of  the 
possess.  And  they  that  be  earth,  and  those  that  be  left 
left  of  you  shall  pine  away  in  of  you  shall  pine  away  in  the 
their  iniquities  in  the  land  of  iniquities  of  their  fathers  with 
your  enemies.  And  your  land  them.  And  I  will  make  your 
shall  be  desolate  and  your  cities  waste  and  bring  your 
cities  waste.  And  your  en-  land  into  desolation, 
emies  which  dwell  therein 
shall  be  astonished. 


VERSIONS   COMPARED.  203 

REPENTANCE  AND  MERCT, 
J.  E; 

If   they   shall  confess        And    yet   for    all    this    if 

their  iniquity  and  the  iniqui-  they  confess  in  their  tres- 
ties  of  their  fathers,  and  that  pass  wherein  they  have  tres- 
I  brought  them  into  the  land  passed  against  me,  and  also 
of  their  enemies,  then  I  will  that  they  have  walked  contra- 
not  cast  them  away,  but  will  ry  unto  me,  and  I  have  walked 
remember  my  covenant  with  contrary  unto  them,  when 
Jacob,  and  my  covenant  with  they  be  in  the  land  of  their 
Isaac,  and  also  my  covenant  enemies,  I  will  not  abhor  them 
with  Abraham.  Ye  shall  to  destroy  them  utterly  and  to 
therefore  keep  (my  com-  break  my  covenant  with  them, 
mandments),  which  if  a  man  But  I  will  remember  them, 
do  he  shall  live  in  them.  And  and  I  will  remember  the  land ; 
thou  shalt  be  perfect  with  Je-  for  I  am  Jehovah  their  God. 
hovah  thy  God.  And  Jehovah   commands   us 

to  do  all  these  (command- 
ments) for  our  good  always 
that  he  might  preserve  us 
alive. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

THE  LEGISLATION   OF  MOSES. 

The  claim  I  make  is  that  the  three  codes  which  I 
have  restored,  each  in  two  versions,  are  the  work  of  a 
single  author,  and  that  they  lie  at  the  foundation  of  Is- 
rael's history  from  their  first  entrance  into  Palestine. 

A.   The  Codes  Have  One  Author, 

If  I  were  asked  to  prove  that  a  bud  and  a  half-blown 
flower  and  a  fully  blossomed  rose  came  from  one  bush, 
I  would  need  to  show  that  each  flower  was  in  structure 
a  rose;  that  the  same  color  was  present  in  the  petals; 
and  that  a  like  fragrance  exhaled  from  the  bud  as  from 
the  blossoms.  Such  proof  would  be  regarded  as  quite 
conclusive.  Thus  I  will  prove  the  Mosaic  authorship 
of  these  three  codes. 

EVERYWHERE  ONE  THOUGHT  AS  A  COLOR  PERVADES  EACH 
CODE,  AND  THIS  THOUGHT  IS  THAT  JEHOVAH  SHALL  BE 
SUPREME  IN  THE  LIFE  OF  ISRAEL. 

Turn  the  pages  of  the  codes  over  most  hurriedly  and 
cast  the  eye  down  upon  the  writings,  each  glance  can- 
not fail  to  discern  the  words  *'Jehovah  thy  God."  In- 
wrought in  every  part  of  the  codes  is  this  thought,  and 
it  is  as  inseparable  from  them  as  the  color  is  from  the 
flower.     The  God  of  Israel  is  Jehovah. 

OBEDIENCE  TO  THESE  CODES  IS  REGARDED  IN  EACH  CODE 
AS  THE  FRAGRANCE  WHICH  SHOULD  ASCEND  UNTO  JE- 
HOVAH AS  WELL-PLEASING  TO  HIM. 

The  commands  are  given  to  be  obeyed;  yet  every 

(205) 


206  BOOK  OF   THE  COVENANT. 

motive  of  advantage  and  fear  is  urged  upon  Israel  to 
lead  to  obedience.  The  existence  of  Israel  depends 
upon  obedience.  Peace  shall  reign  in  their  dwellings, 
plenty  shall  abound  in  their  houses,  the  fields  shall  wave 
with  the  plentiful  grains,  if  only  Israel  obeys.  And  Je- 
hovah will  delight  in  the  fragrance  only  of  obedient 
lives. 

THE  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT,  THE  SINAITIC  AND  MOSAIC 
TORAS  HAVE  THE  SAME  STRUCTURAL  CHARACTER: 
EACH  HAS  AN  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION,  A  BODY  OF 
LAWS,  AND  A  HORTATORY  CLOSE. 

This  likeness  of  structure  argues  strongly  for  unity 
of  authorship.  A  great  leader  might  amplify  an  earlier 
code,  but  he  would  not  abrogate  it,  especially  if  his  lead- 
ership was  maintained  through  the  authority  which  came 
to  him  by  being  the  mediator  of  the  code.  The  only  ra- 
tional hypothesis  to  explain  the  three  codes  is  that  they 
were  mediated  by  the  same  person  and  stand  related  to 
each  other  as  a  finished  to  earlier  and  less  elaborate  pro- 
ductions. 

THE  HISTORICAL  INTRODUCTION  IN  EACH  CODE,  SO  FAR 
AS  CONTEMPORARY  HISTORY  COMES  INTO  VIEW,  CON- 
TAINS REFERENCE  TO  THE  SAME  EVENTS,  BUT  THEY 
ARE  ALLUDED  TO  FOR  A  DIFFERENT  PURPOSE. 

Each  tora  refers  to  the  deliverance  from  Egypt  and 
the  overthrow  of  the  Egyptians  in  the  Red  Sea.  Jeho- 
vah wrought  these  deliverances  for  Israel.  But  the 
Book  of  the  Covenant  narrates  these  events  to  prove 
that  Jehovah  is  on  Israel's  side.  The  Sinaitic  Tora  re- 
fers to  them  to  emphasize  the  truth  that  Jehovah  is  the 
God  of  Israel,  while  in  the  Tora  of  Moses  they  come 


THE  LEGISLATION  OF  MOSES.  207 

in  review  to  give  point  to  the  truth  that  Jehovah  had 
been  faithful,  even  though  Israel  had  been  a  stiffnecked 
people,  and  to  enforce  the  admonition  that  unless  Israel 
were  obedient  Jehovah  would  abhor  even  them. 

EACH  CODE  CONTAINS  A  DECALOGUE  ALIKE  IN  THE  OR- 
DER OF  THE  COMMANDMENTS  AND  ESSENTIALLY  ALIKE 
AS  TO  THE  meaning:  THE  LATER  DECALOGUES,  HOW- 
EVER, GIVE  EVIDENCE  OF  A  MORE  UNIVERSAL  APPLI- 
CATION OF  THE  PRINCIPLES  INVOLVED,  AND  SHOW 
GREATER  BEAUTY  OF  EXPRESSION. 

We  may  illustrate  this  statement  by  the  first  command- 
ment. That  of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  is,  "Thou 
shalt  fear  thy  God."  The  same  command  in  the  Sina- 
itic  Tora  is  expressed  as  follows:  *'Thou  shalt  fear  Je- 
hovah thy  God  and  serve  him  and  swear  by  his  name." 
The  element  of  fear  is  still  emphasized;  but  the  idea  of 
service  is  added  as  well  as  that  of  making  him  the  high- 
est authority,  in  that  an  oath  is  to  be  made  in  his  name. 
The  Tora  of  Moses  formulates  this  command  thus: 
**  Thou  shalt  love  Jehovah  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart 
and  with  all  thy  soul  and  with  all  thy  might." 

EACH  CODE  RECOGNIZES  THREE  FUNDAMENTAL  SACRED 
SEASONS,  NAMELY,  THE  SABBATH,  THE  PASSOVER,  AND 
THE  DAY  OF  ATONEMENT. 

The  two  agricultural  feasts  are  found  in  the  Sinaitic 
and  Mosaic  toras,  but  not  in  the  Book  of  the  Covenant. 
These  feasts  grew  up  because  of  the  changed  condition 
of  Israel's  life,  a  transition  from  a  nomadic  to  a  settled 
people.  The  three  sacred  seasons  found  in  each  code 
have  other  origin.   The  Sabbath  was  without  doubt  a  day 


2o8  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

which  had  been  observed  among  the  Abrahamitic  de- 
scendants. Probably  it  had  the  sanction  of  a  far  great- 
er antiquity.  The  Passover  was  associated  with  the  de- 
liverance of  the  Israelites  from  bondage.  The  Day  of 
Atonement  was  remembered  because  of  the  mercy  of 
Jehovah.  Within  Israel  grew  up  the  most  remarkable 
literature  which  the  world  ever  saw,  simply  and  only  be- 
cause the  nation  held  sacred  the  ideas  associated  with 
these  three  observances. 

THE  HORTATORY  CLOSE  TO  EACH  CODE  MAKES  BLESSINGS 
DEPEND  UPON  THE  FIDELITY  AND  OBEDIENCE  OF  ISRAEL 
TO  JEHOVAH  THEIR  GOD. 

These  blessings  are  practically  alike  in  each  code, 
being  abundant  harvests,  large  flocks  and  herds,  homes 
made  glad  by  the  voices  of  many  children,  security 
from  invasion  by  an  enemy.  The  increasing  charm 
with  which  these  several  blessings  are  set  forth  in  the 
later  codes  makes  evident  that  he  who  formulated  them 
for  Israel  ever  sought  to  give  them  the  most  finished  and 
perfect  expression  possible. 

THE  HORTATORY  CLOSE  IN  EACH  CODE  THREATENS  SEV- 
EN PUNISHMENTS  UPON  ISRAEL,  IF  THEY  REFUSED  TO 
OBEY  JEHOVAH ;  AND  THESE  SEVEN  ARE  PRACTICALLY 
ALIKE  IN  EACH   CODE. 

These  punishments  are  sickness,  the  plague,  drought, 
defeat,  famine,  the  foreign  ruler,  and  captivity  in  a 
foreign  land.  They  are  differently  expressed  in  each 
code,  showing  the  environment  at  the  time  of  promul- 
gation. But  the  punishments  change  not.  They  are 
neither  added  to  nor  diminished. 


THE  LEGISLATION  OF  MOSES.  209 

B.    The  Codes  Were  the  Law  of  Israel, 

HIGHER  CRITICS  ASSIGN  THEIR  DEUTERONOMIC  CODE  TO 
THE  AGE  OF  JOSIAH  (689-608  B.C.  )  ;  AND  BECAUSE  THE 
TORA  OF  MOSES  CONTAINS  THE  COMMANDMENTS  AND 
STATUTES  OF  THIS  DEUTERONOMIC  CODE,  THE  MOSAIC 
TORA  CANNOT  BE  ASSIGNED  TO  A  LATER  DATE. 

The  claim  is  reasonable.  Every  reason  which  can 
be  alleged  to  fix  the  Deuteronomic  Code  in  the  reign  of 
Josiah  may  be  alleged  to  prove  that  the  Tora  of  Moses 
was  known  at  this  time.  The  Mosaic  Tora  was  obtained 
by  eliminating  from  the  Deuteronomic  code  repetitions 
and  duplicates  and  arranging  the  matter  thus  obtained 
under  the  demands  of  a  system  or  according  to  the 
needs  of  a  code.  There  can  therefore  be  no  objection 
for  the  reconstructive  critic  to  claim  that  the  latest  date 
to  which  his  Tora  of  Moses  may  be  assigned  is  the 
reign  of  Josiah. 

THE  JEHOVISTIC  CODE  OF  HIGHER  CRITICISM  IS  ASSIGNED 
TO  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  EIGHTH  CENTURY.  SINCE 
NOW  THE  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT  OF  RECONSTRUCT- 
IVE CRITICISM  CONTAINS  THOSE  ELEMENTS  OF  THE  JE- 
HOVISTIC CODE  UPON  WHICH  CRITICS  REST  TO  DETER- 
MINE ITS  DATE,  IT  FOLLOWS  THAT  THE  BOOK  OF  THE 
COVENANT  MUST  BE  ASSIGNED  TO  THIS  TIME. 

The  presence  of  Bemoth  and  the  want  of  a  central 
sanctuary  are  the  principal  reasons  brought  forward 
to  enable  critics  to  fix  a  date  for  the  Jehovistic  Code. 
Now,  these  features  are  dominantly  features  of  the 
Book  of   the   Covenant  as  restored   by  reconstructive 


2IO  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

criticism.  It  is  reasonable  then  to  claim  the  date  of 
the  Jehovistic  Code,  some  time  in  the  eighth  century,  to 
be  the  latest  which  can  be  given  the  Book  of  the  Cove- 
nant. 


AS  ESSENTIALLY  THE  ONLY  DIFFERENCES  BETWEEN  THE 
SINAITIC  AND  MOSAIC  CODES  WHEN  COMPARED  WITH 
THE  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT  CONSIST  IN  THE  PRES- 
ENCE OF  TWO  AGRICULTURAL  FEASTS  AND  THE  PRES- 
ENCE OF  JUDGMENTS,  IT  FOLLOWS  THAT  THE  GROUND 
PRINCIPLES  OF  THE  THREE  CODES  WERE  WELL  KNOWN 
IN  ISRAEL  AS  EARLY  AS  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  EIGHTH 
CENTURY. 

The  importance  of  this  inference  is  at  once  apparent. 
It  makes  clear  that  the  splendid  reformation  of  Josiah's 
time,  resulting  in  the  adoption  of  the  Deuteronomic 
principles  as  a  new  constitution,  is  a  myth,  a  fabrication 
of  the  higher  critic.  At  the  beginning  of  the  eighth 
century  the  Jehovistic  code  is  assumed  by  the  higher 
critics  to  have  been  in  vogue.  But  this  code  furnishes 
much  of  the  cultus-material  for  the  Book  of  the  Cov- 
enant as  restored.  Hence  the  whole  of  this  book,  in- 
cluding all  the  commandments  and  statutes  structurally 
related  together,  must  have  been  known  at  this  time. 
Now  these  commandments  and  statutes  are  found  in 
each  of  the  three  codes  of  reconstructive  criticism ;  and 
if  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  cannot  be  assigned  to  a 
date  later  than  the  eighth  century,  it  follows  that  in  the 
eighth  century  the  same  commandments  and  statutes 
were  well  known  in  Israel  which  higher  critics  assume 
to  have  made  their  appearance  in  Josiah's  time. 


THE   LEGISLATION  OF  MOSES.  211 

IN  THE  KINGDOM  OF  JUDAH  IN  THE  NINTH  CENTURY  THERE 
IS  THE  CLEAREST  EVIDENCE  THAT  THE  TORA  OF  MOSES 
WAS  KNOWN.  THIS  BEING  TRUE,  SO  CLOSE  WERE  THE 
RELATIONSHIPS  AT  THAT  TIME  BETWEEN  ISRAEL  AND 
JUDAH  THAT  THE  PROVISIONS  OF  THIS  TORA  MUST  HAVE 
BEEN  KNOWN  IN  THE  KINGDOM  OF  ISRAEL. 

Jehoshaphat  (914-889  B.C.)  sent  Levites  throughout 
his  kingdom  to  teach  the  law  of  Jehovah.  He  also  es- 
tablished a  system  of  courts  such  as  is  required  by  the 
Mosaic  Tora.  It  is  distinctly  related  by  him  (2  Chron. 
xvii.  4)  that  **  he  walked  in  his  [Jehovah's]  command- 
ments." He  appoints  judges,  as  required  by  the  Mo- 
saic Tora,  and  gives  them  instructions  in  the  very  words 
of  the  tora  itself.  We  have  then  the  Mosaic  legislation 
well  known  in  the  ninth  century  in  Judah. 

IN  THE  TENTH  CENTURY,  WHEN  THE  KINGDOM  WAS  DIVIDED 
THE  NORTHERN  KINGDOM  TOOK  FOR  ITS  LAW  THE  SINA- 
ITIC  CODE,  AND  THE  SOUTHERN  KINGDOM  RETAINED  THE 
TORA  OF  MOSES. 

In  the  second  chapter  of  this  volume  I  set  forth  rea- 
sons for  believing  that  Hilkiah's  law  book  was  the  Si- 
naitic  Tora.  I  will  add  one  further  suggestion.  The 
whole  trend  of  Israel's  history  controverts  the  po- 
sition that  Bethel  and  Dan  were  centers  of  the  golden 
calf  worship.  The  sin  of  the  kings  of  Israel  was  not 
this  calf  worship,  but  the  worshiping  at  altars,  which 
were  profane  according  to  the  Tora  of  Moses.  It  was 
not  the  sacrificing  upon  a  Bamah,  but  at  Bamoth,  which 
had  not  the  sanction  of  Jehovah.  When  the  man  of 
God  rebuked  Jeroboam,  it  was  not  the  golden  calf  that 
was  hurled  down  by  the  might  of  Jehovah,  but  it  was 


212  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

the  altar  which  the  king  had  reared.  This  altar  was 
rent  in  twain.  If  higher  critics  inquire,  What  then  of 
the  record  which  asserts  that  the  calf  worship  was  prac- 
ticed in  Israel?  I  calmly  reply,  the  '* golden  calf"  is  a 
redaction  in  place  of  the  word  **  altar."  Surely  the 
higher  critic  will  not  refuse  me  one  redaction. 

THE  DAVIDIC  KINGDOM  WAS  A  RESTORATION  OF  MOSAISM^ 
AND  HAD  FOR  ITS  LAW  CODE  THE  TORA  OF  MOSES. 

Shiloh  witnessed  the  overthrow  of  the  tabernacle.  In 
Israel  this  central  place  for  worship  had  been  made  a 
heap.  Samuel  heralded,  however,  the  religious  practice 
of  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  wherein  sacrifice  upon 
the  Bamoth  was  permitted.  The  people  demanded  a 
king.  Saul,  the  first  king,  established  his  throne,  with- 
out changing  the  popular  mode  of  worship,  after  the 
destruction  of  the  tabernacle,  namely,  sacrifice  upon 
the  Bamoth.  His  civil  law  was  the  same  as  had  ruled 
Israel  from  the  time  they  crossed  the  Jordan.  David, 
when  he  ascended  the  throne,  changed  not  the  civil 
code,  which  was  the  Mosaic  Tora;  but  he  did  change 
the  mode  of  worship,  for  David's  tabernacle  became 
the  central  place  of  worship.  He  did  not  abolish  the 
Bamoth,  but  he  gave  Israel  a  new  Shiloh,  whither  they 
came  three  times  a  year  to  worship. 

Accept  these  three  codes  as  the  legislation  of  Moses, 
and  the  history  of  Israel  becomes  a  normal  develop- 
ment; reject  them,  and  this  history  is  a  brilliant  fabri- 
cation of  exilic  or  post-exilic  times.  Assuming  these 
three  codes  of  Moses  as  existing,  then  the  prophets  of 
Israel  become  of  right  God's  pleaders  in  Israel  to  lead 
them  to  return  and  obey  the  law.  Without  the  codes 
as  an  authority  of  most  ancient  standing  in  Israel,  these 


THE  LEGISLATION  OF  MOSES.  213 

the  grandest  figures  in  Israel's  history  plead  with  their 
own  people  to  return  to  a  standard  that  had  no  exist- 
ence ;  and  they  are  made  to  utter  thoughts  which  had 
no  meaning  until  centuries  after  their  death.  The 
prophets  first  of  all  spoke  to  their  own  times.  Their 
words  aimed  to  recall  to  Jehovah  an  apostate  people. 
The  very  message  they  carried  necessitated  that  the 
commandments  which  had  been  broken  and  the  stat- 
utes which  had  been  perverted  should  have  had  the 
sanction  of  the  highest  authority.  The  three  codes  of 
reconstructive  criticism  in  their  every  part  make  claim 
to  this  high  authority.  A  Mosaic  legislation  full  and 
practiced  for  centuries  as  the  law  in  Israel  is  the  neces- 
sary antecedent  to  the  era  of  the  prophets  in  Israel. 

As  the  blood  is  to  the  body  so  are  the  Mosaic  codes 
to  the  body  politic  of  the  chosen  people.  Impede  the 
normal  workings  of  the  law,  and  disturbances  arose  in 
in  every  part  of  the  domain.  Corrupt  the  law,  and  dis- 
ease, threatening  death,  came  to  Israel.  When  the 
Gothic  architect  completed  that  part  of  his  edifice 
which  reached  highest — those  lofty  spires  which  seem 
to  threaten  the  sky — he  placed  as  the  apex  a  cruciform 
flower,  symbol  of  that  religion  whose  seat  was  within 
the  noble  cathedral.  The  peculiar  appropriateness  of 
this  mode  of  completion  has  been  recognized  by  later 
times.  Likewise,  when  the  Book  of  the  Covenant  is 
brought  to  a  close,  that  first  formulated  code  of  Israel, 
most  appropriate  words  are  employed,  and  they  are: 
**Jehovah  commands  us  to  do  all  these  commandments 
for  our  good  always  that  he  might  preserve  us  alive." 
Obedience  to  the  commandments  of  the  covenant  code 
is  life  for  Israel.  Not  until  three  codes,  each  in  two 
copies,  are  proffered  for  consideration  by  higher  crit- 


214  BOOK  OF  THE  COVENANT. 

ics,  better  adapted  to  mold  Israel  into  a  righteous  na- 
tion that  Jehovah  **  might  preserve  them  alive,"  than 
the  three  codes  I  have  restored,  each  in  two  versions, 
namely,  the  Book  of  the  Covenant,  the  Sinaitic  Tora, 
and  the  Tora  of  Moses,  may  they  hope  to  gain  an  abid- 
ing faith  in  any  fabricated  history  for  Israel  to  account 
for  the  peculiar  phenomena  in  the  Pentateuch. 

Assuming  the  three  codes  which  higher  critics  regard 
as  fundamental  in  the  development  of  Israel,  the  litera- 
ture of  the  Hebrews  in  order  to  give  these  codes  cur- 
rency and  authority  becomes  brilliant  novelettes  of  ex- 
ilic or  post-exilic  times,  composite  structures  of  differ- 
ent ages,  such  as  Mohammedans  have  often  builded  for 
mosques  by  robbing  of  their  splendors  ancient  temples, 
which  the  hands  of  the  Roman  and  the  Greek  and  the 
Christian  had  fashioned,  and  then  building  these  carved 
stones  into  walls  simply  and  solely  to  have  their  beauty 
cast  upon  the  walls  some  charm  which  their  own  gen- 
ius could  not  create.  Assuming,  on  the  other  hand, 
the  three  codes,  each  in  two  versions,  which  I  have  re- 
stored, as  that  Mosaic  legislation  that  lies  at  the  foun- 
dation of  Israel's  history,  then  each  splendid  element  of 
Hebrew  literature  becomes  built  into  a  consistent  and 
magnificent  structure,  a  great  holy  temple  wherein  the 
light  and  beauty  in  each  part,  uniting  with  the  grandeur 
of  the  whole,  combine  to  make  an  edifice  that  must  for- 
ever draw  the  admiring  and  loving  study  of  all  man- 
kind. 


THE  TORA  OF  MOSES 


Being  a  Critical  Study  of  Deuteronomy;  Its 
aration  into  two  copies  of  the  tora; 
A  Refutation  of  Higher 
Criticism. 


Sep- 


BV  WILLIAM  WALLACE  MARTIN. 


On  every  page  It  exhibits  the  hand 
of  the  trained  and  careful  scholar. 
One  may  search  In  vain  for  a  single 
indication  of  rashness  or  a  disposi- 
tion to  set  up  and  maintain  a  pre- 
conceived opinion,  without  refer- 
ence to  the  actual  truth.  .  .  .  But 
of  one  thing  we  are  certain:  Prof. 
Martin  has  written  a  strong  book, 
and  one  of  which  the  scholars  will 
be  compelled  to  take  notice. — Bishop 
E.  E.  Hoss,  D.D. 

If  one  will  carefully  read  these 
two  chapters  [XIX.-XX.l  he  cannot 
fail  to  be  impressed  witn  the  free- 
dom from  contradiction  and  confu- 
sion, the  lucidity,  consecutiveness, 
homogeneity,  and  completeness  of 
the  results  Prof.  Martin  has  reached 
by  the  simple  means  demanded  by 
his  equally  simple  theory.  ...  If 
freedom  from  obscurity  and  com- 
plexity in  both  method  and  results 
were  the  only  tests  of  truth,  no  one 
can  withhold  the  verdict  that  Dr. 
Martin  had  routed  the  higher  critics 
at  the  first  onslaught.— Z)r.  Jno.J.  Ti- 
gert,  Editor  Methodist  Review  y  M.  E. 
Churchy  South.  

Issue  Is  taken  by  Prof.  Martin 
with  the  higher  criticism  in  its  con- 
clusion as  to  the  literary  analysis 
of  the  book  of  Deuteronomy.  .  .  . 
His  contribution  to  this  ever-impor- 
tant discussion  is  bound  to  receive 
notice  as  one  of  the  very  thoughtful 
and  strong  essays  put  forth  by 
scholarly  yet  conservative  Chris- 
tian critics— men  who  are  higher 
critics  no  less  than  the  destruction- 
ists.— Pittsburg  Christian  Advocate. 

This  volume  seeks  to  counteract 
the  tendencies  of  current  Old  Testa- 
ment criticism  by  presenting  a  new 
literary  analysis  of  Deuteronomy. 
The  author  does  not  aim  so  much 
at  finding  flaws  in  the  generally  ac- 
cepted analysis  as  at  undermining 
its  whole  structure.  .  .  .  The  vol- 
ume is  a  scholarly  attempt  at  an  al- 
ternative theory  of  the  composition 
of  Deuteronomy  which  is  full  of  in- 
terest in  its  side  issues  and  sugges- 
tions.—i/07u2on  Quarterly  Review, 


The  book  as  a  whole,  whatever 
may  be  said  of  the  theory,  Is  intense- 
ly interesting.  The  language  of  the 
author  is  perspicuous,  forcible,  and 
concise,  in  certain  passages  partak- 
ing of  the  qualities  of  the  best  style 
of  those  sacred  writings  which  he 
has  so  long  and  so  earnestly  studied. 
.  .  .  No  one  who  reads  his  work 
without  prejudice  can  fall  to  per- 
ceive the  admirable  character  of 
his  analysis  of  the  contents  of  the 
book,  the  noble  style  which  he  em- 
ploys, and  the  marks  of  entire  con- 
fidence in  his  theory  which  are 
everywhere  visible.— Z>r.  J.  M.  Buck- 
ley^ Editor  Christian  Advocate.  New 
York. 


"What  hearing  this  hitherto  silent 
man  will  get  from  the  world  of  crit- 
ics for  his  radically  new  theory  re- 
mains to  be  seen,  but  certainly  no 
man  will  accuse  him  of  wanting  in 
candor  or  scholarship.  And  equal- 
ly certainly  the  man  who  turns  from 
the  heterogeneous  jumble  the  book 
of  Deuteronomy  presents  on  its  face, 
or  the  multitudinous  "redactions" 
of  the  old  school  of  critics,  to  Dr. 
Martin's  exhibition  of  his  two  par- 
allel versions  of  a  perfect  code,  wor- 
thy of  the  master  hand  of  Moses,  .  .  . 
will  feel  like  one  who,  from  the  van- 
tage point  of  the  geology  of  to- 
day, looks  back  on  the  geology  of 
fifty  years  ago,  with  Its  constant  ap- 
peal to  supposed  cataclysms  and  ca- 
tastrophes.—iSeu.  Thomas  E.  Wine- 
coffy  D.D.y  Rector  St.  Luke's  Church. 


Prof.  Martin  antagonizes  Wholly 
this  literary  analysis,  and  the  pres- 
ent volume,  he  considers,  demon- 
strates its  failure  in  Deuteronomy. 
Many  candid  readers,  we  are  sure, 
will  share  his  conclusion.  The  sci- 
entific method  is  followed,  and 
meets  the  literary  analysts  on  their 
own  ground.  The  phrase  "recon- 
structive criticism  "  very  admira- 
bly describes  the  method  and  char- 
acter of  his  work. — Methodist  Maga- 
zine and  Review,  Toronto. 


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T^he  law  and  covenant.  Being  the 


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ibrar 


1   1012  00012  1741 


